Final Report Submitted to the Government of Kingdom of Tonga

Abstract

The coconut economy of the Kingdom of Tonga has been experiencing a crisis with respect to production technology, palm senility, natural calamities, value addition, farm gate prices, stable domestic market, export orientation, professionalism, stakeholder synergy and convergence. This is in contrast to the earlier scenario, way back in the 1970s through 1990s, during which coconut sector has dominated the export scenario in Tonga with copra making providing a robust livelihood security to the people. Above all, the emerging market and trade related challenges in the liberalized regime are difficult to cop up. As a matter of fact, coconut sector in Tonga still has the potential to provide year round livelihood security. In view of these issues it is imperative to assess the current status of the coconut sector in the country and identify the gaps, commonalities and recommend opportunities for sectoral development in order to put a renewed focus for coconut sector in the country.