The Challenge
The Philippines is one of the largest exporters of coconuts in the world, yet smallholder farmers are still living below poverty levels, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. At the same time, many of the aging coconut trees across the region are producing just one third of their optimal output, according to the Philippines Department of Agriculture.
Coconuts are a source of income for 2.5 million coconut farmers, according to the Philippine Coconut Authority, so efforts to mitigate these challenges are critical to securing farmer livelihoods and revitalizing the coconut industry.
Our Approach
We work alongside local partners to meet the specific needs of coconut farmers in the Philippines, namely by helping to distribute coconut seedlings through Vita Coco’s Seedlings for Sustainability initiative which has a goal to help distribute and plant 10 million seedlings and trees by 2030.
First, smallholder farmers that live below the poverty line and have available land for planting seedlings are identified with the help of local municipalities and the Philippines Coconut Authority. Once identified, we work with our local partners to help distribute seedlings to these farmers along with a specialized training on how to grow these seedlings in a productive way. Farmers learn about topics including how many seedlings can be planted on their land, the best timing and format to plant the seedlings in, how to fertilize the trees, and how to identify and treat coconut diseases.
When farmer Marivic Reveche first joined the program in 2017, she produced just a few thousand seedlings a year and earning 50,000 to 100,000 pesos annually. Now, she supplies 15,000 seedlings, earning 525,000 pesos, income which has transformed her livelihood and her family’s future.
The Results
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694,000+
seedlings distributed since 2014
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7,200+
farmers trained
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3,600+
hours of farmer training completed since 2017
