From Vision to Programs Implementation
The ICC's vision is to improve the socio-economic welfare of coconut farmers and other stakeholders for a sustainable and vibrant coconut sector. For the implementation, collaboration and synergies between coconut stakeholders and value chains are need of the hour which will increase the production to meet the growing demands. Under the context, ICC has facilitated several activities to create links between upstream and downstream coconut stakeholders. During the ICC team’s field visit programs to several coconut producing regions, to update the current situation of the coconut industry and to absorb inputs from the coconut stakeholders, we have met some coconut farmers, processors, producers, and government officers, in which ICC could identify their actual and present challenges, such as the competition for raw materials, illegal transshipment, low production due to senility, pest and diseases, climate changes, price fluctuations, logistics, and human resources scarcity.
At the decision-making levels, we also have made audiences with policymakers, ministers, legislators, ambassadors, university representatives, and research institutes, in which we could extend the information we got from the grassroots level so that together we could formulate policies, programs, and effective technologies to address these problems, in the implementation of ICC's mission to facilitate activities for capacity building and technology transfer for increasing production through improved farming systems that are environmentally sustainable.
Such collaboration is also needed to support value addition, processing, and marketing of high-value coconut products. The ICC Secretariat, in collaboration with our member countries and partner international organizations, is going to conduct several capacity-building programs which include online training and webinars. To encourage market research on demand and supply, market promotion, to promote product diversification and generate innovative products, also addressing market-related issues, ICC holds a “Coconut Statistics Officer Workshops” on 31 May 2021 and going to conduct a webinar on “Best Practices for Coconut Husk Product Development: from Initial Concept to Market Success”, on 8 June 2021. To promote product diversification and maintain high product quality standards acceptable to consumers, ICC is proposed to conduct an “International Workshop on Quality Standards of Coconut Products”, from 13-15 July 2021.
The other major events scheduled for the CY 2021 are the 49th International COCOTECH Conference & Exhibition in collaboration with the Government of Malaysia and the 57th ICC Session & Ministerial Meeting to be conducted virtually from 26-28 October 2021. The meeting will be organized in association with the KIK, PNG as Chair of ICC for 2021.
This years’ World Coconut Day Celebration to commemorate ICC foundation year on 2 September with the theme “Building a safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable coconut community amid COVID-19 pandemic & beyond” and will be held virtually in Jakarta, Indonesia by organizing different competitions for the coconut growing countries across the globe. Each year the coconut growing communities voluntarily create programs and events to promote the goodness of the coconut. The competitions ICC planned are Photography, Short Video, Writing, and Creative Social Media Post. The objective of the program is to encourage resilient and sustainable coconut development, to promote the positive attributes of coconut and its products, to counter the unjustifiable coconut oil campaign, and to stimulate creativity and innovation among millennials and older generations during COVID-19 and beyond.
By organizing and implementing such programs, ICC Secretariat ensures our commitments to serve our member countries and always available to achieve our vision of improving the socio-economic welfare of the farmers and stakeholders for a rising industry and to develop a vibrant coconut sector.
DR. JELFINA C. ALOUW
Executive Director