Upgrading trajectories in cocoa and coconut: Opportunities and challenges

As previously mentioned, Vanuatu faces a pressing need to dynamise its traditional rural economy. The challenge is not just to expand the existing agricultural system but also to instigate a pattern of structural rural transformation. This entails raising agricultural incomes while generating non-farm income opportunities in rural areas. Value-addition and diversification in the cocoa and coconut sectors can catalyse this structural rural transformation process, both products offering, as noted in chapter 3, a range of market outlets and several diversification options. There is significant room for harnessing synergies between agricultural upgrading, agro-processing, handicraft and tourism. Viable commercial options to unlock this potential in cocoa and coconut include any one or a combination of: product differentiation through organic certification; compliance with sustainability standards; indications of origin and branding/ packaging strategies; downstream agro-processing into higher value-added products (e.g. artisanal VCO and grated coconut; personal care products; artisanal chocolate); valueaddition to marketable by-products (husks and shells); and commercialisation of related handicraft production. Demandside coordination mechanisms can kick-start the process. Boutique export outlets, the hospitality industry (hotels, restaurants, cruise lines, etc.) and, to a different extent, the biofuel sector, are key demand factors that can spearhead the transition towards a more diversified rural economy in Vanuatu. However, as pointed out below, while they offer viable options to harness the synergies between traditional subsistence modes of production and the rural non-farm economy, a certain number of pre-requisites need to be fulfilled to enter export niche markets.

Sustainable Development Goals:

No Poverty

Zero Hunger

Gender Equality