Vanuatu’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Forestry and Biosecurity, Minister Matai Seremaiah launched the “National Coconut Strategy” today.
The National Coconut Strategy aims to refocus on the coconut sector and revive the coconut industry of Vanuatu.
After the launch, 50,000 coconut nuts will be distributed to communities in Shefa and Tafea that have been affected by cyclone PAM.
Agriculture officers will also be deployed to islands throughout Vanuatu to do awareness on the National Coconut Strategy to get communities involved in the replanting of coconuts.
In some areas local residents would not only lose their main source of income due to damage to crops such as copra during a cyclone.
For instance, coconut plantations particularly devastated during cyclone Pam last year, will have a significant longer-term impact.
Vanuatu's economy is primarily agricultural; 80% of the population is engaged in agricultural activities that range from subsistence farming to smallholder farming of coconuts and other cash crops. Copra is by far the most important cash crop (making up more than 35% of the country's exports), but that is also prone to natural disasters.
In Vanuatu people from various culture and religion scattered around the archipelago have also revered to coconuts as valuable sources of food and medicine.