CORE Urges Prioritisation of Coconut Downstreaming in Smallholder Plantation Programme

Researcher Eliza Mardian from the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia has urged that coconut be made a priority commodity in the downstreaming programme for smallholder plantations, given its substantial room for value addition. “So far, coconut downstreaming has not been extensive, as evidenced by Indonesia still exporting a large amount in the form of whole coconuts,” Eliza told ANTARA in Jakarta on Monday. She noted that strengthening downstreaming is necessary so that Indonesia does not merely serve as a supplier of raw materials, but is also able to increase exports of processed, value-added products. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the export value of coconut and its processed products reached approximately 2.48 billion US dollars, equivalent to around Rp44.2 trillion, from January to October 2025. Eliza stated that this significant demand indicates the economic potential of coconut would be even greater if more is processed domestically. She pointed out that the development of the downstream coconut industry in Indonesia still faces challenges, with the export value of copra, for example, only reaching around 52 million US dollars, while exports of other derivative products also remain insignificant. Eliza added that Indonesia’s exports of crude coconut oil in 2024 were around 333 thousand tonnes, lower than the Philippines’ exports of approximately 986 thousand tonnes.