Coconut: Firm Targets 100,000 Hectares To Boost Production, Encourage Export

First African Coconut Company Limited has announced a target of 100,000 hectares of farmland across the country aimed at reviving the ailing coconut industry in the country.

John –Bede Anthonio, Chairman and Founder of First African Coconut Company Limited, in an interview with DAILY INDEPENDENT in Lagos lamented the absence of coconut plantations in Nigeria, saying bulk of the product available in the local markets are imported from neighbouring country, Ghana.

“There are no coconut here in Nigeria, some of the coconuts in Badagry are over 100 years old and are no longer producing. None of them is producing; there are just a few nuts on them. That explains the disappearance of coconuts in Badagry. All the ones around are brought into Nigeria from Ghana,” he said.

According to him, the drive to revive the coconut sector was informed by the findings of the company which showed that the country is not doing anything about it, thus the mission to set up coconut plantation across the country on 100,000 hectares of land.

Anthonio, who affirmed that coconut will grow in 26 states of the country, stressed that opportunities abound for people to key in through purchase of seedlings from the firm and plant in homes and on farmland.

He said if an intending investor possesses land and desires professional management is possible, saying that if on the other hand the investor does not own a land she could key into the firm’s 100,000-hectare plantation.

“If they have land one hectare or more, we can help them to manage the farm, we can help them plant if they so wish, but if they do not have land they can key into our 100,000 hectares and that is about N2.5billion investment for one hectare. They can take as much as 100 hectares, a thousand hectares across the country,” he said.

He explained that it will take four years for the breed of coconut to start fruiting and that after that one can get return on investment of 20 per cent estimated at about N1million annually.

“When we plant and when we manage it, it will take four years for it to start to fruit, after four years then you get an investment return of 20 per cent which is about N1million per annum. So, if you have 10 hectares, then you get about N10million per annum on return on your investment,” he said.

Besides, he stated that while the coconut is been planted others fruits like pawpaw, pineapple, watermelon, cassava and vegetables can also be planted in-between which can earn the farmers additional income pending the four years the coconut will start fruiting.

“You can plant other things like pawpaw, pineapple watermelon, cassava, and vegetables so you are still earning an income in-between pending the four years you are waiting for the coconut and the moment the coconut starts to fruit, it fruits for 60 years.

“With that you can have a return which you can pass onto your children, that is what we call the legacy investment, because for the next 60 years you may still be alive you may not, but your children will be there and the company will continue, so those are the kind of things we are working on,” he added.

Speaking further, he stated that the firm is working with few state governments and with the Federal Ministry of trade and investment and has set up an association, namely National Association of Coconut Processors, Producers and Marketers at the Federal Ministry of Trade, to create awareness on the investment and return on investment opportunities in coconut across the country.