Supporting coconut farmers

As one of the world’s largest exporters of coconut milk powder, we indirectly purchase over 90 million coconuts a year from over 8,000 Sri Lankan farming families. In 2022, our total payout to local suppliers for coconut came to Rs. 6.8 billion.

Enhancing the Livelihoods of Sri Lankan Coconut Farmers_Moment

The Nestlé Coconut Plan

The Nestlé Coconut Plan is a coconut development programme that we launched in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB) in 2016. It aims to help secure coconut cultivation and rural farming livelihoods, to address the issue of irregular coconut supply in the country.

Up until now, the Plan has supported 4,000 Sri Lankan coconut farmers and home growers with 24,000 coconut plantlets of a special hybrid variety, that is more resilient to adverse weather and crop disease.

Model coconut farm in Kebithigollewa

Participants are also given free fertilizer and better access to new technologies, best practices, quality planting materials, and professional agronomical support. Together with the CCB, we have even set up six model farms to help our farmers and home growers benchmark best practice, latest two of which focuses on organic farming methods. As many coconut growers struggle without a steady supply of water for their crops, two of our model farms have been outfitted with a tube well and micro-irrigation system. We are also encouraging intercropping to help participants grow other crops with a faster yield, to help sustain their income until the coconut plantlets mature and bear fruit. The first batch of coconut plants matured in 2022

The Plan encourages and supports coconut cultivation by smallholder rural farmers as well as home growers in their home gardens, both within the traditional coconut triangle and in new experimental coconut growing areas. The new areas are located in the North-Central province and previously conflict-affected Northern province, which research and testing has shown to have good potential for successful coconut growing. All plantlets in the programme currently enjoy a 95 - 100% success rate.

The Nestlé Coconut Plan is currently separate to the company’s commercial sourcing of coconut and is focusing purely on developing coconut supply to meet domestic consumption needs.