Coconut Farming Case Study

region alone some 33 million coconut trees were damaged or destroyed and more than a million coconut farmers impacted, with an estimated loss of $396 million, according to the Philippine Coconut Authority. FAO is working closely with the Philippine Coconut Authority, humanitarian partners and local organizations to develop a recovery plan for the sector in Eastern Visayas. Crop diversification and intercropping can provide key access to income and restore self-sufficiency, building the resilience of communities to withstand future disasters, the UN agency has said. Recovery efforts are also still needed in other sectors, FAO warned. Remote farming communities in upland areas who have received little or no humanitarian aid, fishers and coastal communities, and backyard livestock-keepers who lost their animals are all in urgent need of support. FAO has called for $38 million

Growing of intercrops in coconut lands produces more food and agricultural products, ensuring food security of the people in rural and urban areas. At the same time, the practice generates jobs and livelihood, enhancing farm incomes and the purchasing power of people, thus alleviating poverty in farming communities. Moreover, successful farmers serve as inspiration and enterprise leaders in their communities, eventually treating coconut farming in an agribusiness way to create wealth and more capital resources. Vegetable intercropping under coconut palms is one of the popular intercropping practices in rural areas for many good reasons. This intercropping practice requires short period of planting time, smaller area (vacant spaces between coconut trees), provides additional income to coconut farmers and nutritious food for the farm communities. Vegetable intercropping such as tomato, eggplant, sweet pepper, squash, okra, ginger etc. is highly recommended under coconuts aged one to six years old or 26-60 years