In early December 2022, the Director General of Plantations assigned APPERTANI to conduct a rapid review of the whole coconut export policy with the output being a Policy Brief abbreviated as PB. The chairman of APPERTANI assigned Prof. Dr. Irsal Las (Chairman), Prof. Syamsul Bahri, Ir. Rasyidin Azwar M.Sc, Ph.D, Dr. Abdul Muis Hasibuan, Dr. Sumedi, Dr. Ismail Maskromo, and Dr. Adi Setiyanto to complete the PB with the support of several Directorate General of Plantations staff. Complete PB results have been submitted to the Director General of Plantations, the contents of which are summarized as follows:

Coconut is one of Indonesia’s leading plantation commodities after oil palm and rubber, both economically, trade and industry. The area of coconut plantations in 2022 will reach 3.33 million hectares, of which 99% are smallholder plantations, involving more than 6 million heads of farming families. Coconut production averages 15.4 billion eggs per year and domestic demand is 11.1 billion eggs for household needs of around 1.5 billion eggs and industry 9.6 billion eggs, so there is an indication that production is a surplus of around 4.3 billion. billion grains per year.

The export of coconuts in the form of whole coconuts often creates polemics because on the one hand it is an opportunity and on the other hand it can also be assessed as a threat. The opportunity obtained is to maintain a balance of supply and demand so that prices do not fall and increase farmers’ income. While the threats are (a) potential economic losses due to loss of product added value that can be produced by utilizing all of its components; (b) the domestic coconut industry is not developing, especially water, coir and shell processing; (c) loss of investment and employment opportunities; and (d) security aspects of genetic resources. Therefore, a policy study is needed in the export of whole coconuts by taking into account economic, social interests, global trade cooperation relations, and the security of coconut genetic resources. From the studies conducted, the following suggestions or recommendations were obtained:

In the short term: (a) the export of whole coconuts, especially of the inner coconut type, can be continued with a certificate of origin; (b) especially for the export of Dwarf coconut and unique/exotic coconut, special arrangements are required; (c) it is necessary to carry out intensive outreach and advocacy to business actors in order to safeguard the SDGs of superior exotic coconuts; (d) it is necessary to improve the governance of the coconut trade to ensure a fair price level for farmers; and (e) Ministry of Agriculture c.q. The Directorate General of Plantations needs to coordinate and consolidate with related Ministries/Institutions such as the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Finance, and others to synchronize trade policies and governance and develop the downstream coconut industry.

In the medium term: (a) encourage the development of the downstream coconut industry in order to increase product added value, absorb excess domestic coconut production, and absorb labor; (b) the application of an export tax for whole coconut exports may be considered; (c) encouraging the increase in national coconut production and productivity through intensification, rejuvenation and extensification programs; (d) encouraging the formation of mutually beneficial partnerships between smallholders/groups of smallholders and downstream industries so that there is a guaranteed supply of raw materials for the industry, on the other hand there is a guaranteed price of raw materials; and (e) there needs to be a study that calculates the linkage (impact) of the increase in the export volume of whole coconuts to the possibility of reduced supply of raw materials for the domestic coconut industry.

In the long term; developing variety protection technology through research and development as well as developing testing infrastructure, such as testing molecular markers and DNA so that Indonesia has “fingerprint” information on coconut varieties from Indonesia.