 The Ministry of Agriculture continues to explore various avenues in developing the local coconut industry. Minister Hon. Ezekiel Joseph recently participated in a regional forum that discussed the results of a survey on the industry commissioned for a Caribbean project designed to help the development of the coconut industry. Phase 1 of the project, which spanned 2015-2018, saw approximately 5,000 farmers sourcing planting materials from more than 20 seedling nurseries established and or refurbished across the Caribbean. More than 2,000 farmers and 474 extension officers were trade industry management, pest management, crop production, processing, trade finance and group dynamics. Additionally, 11 private public platforms were established and a new Caribbean-wide standard for packaged coconut water developed. Noting the challenges faced by coconut water vendors, Chairman of the National Stakeholders Platform, Kenny Danielle, said the thrust is now to create a coconut vendors cooperative. They're not an organization that takes care of them. So they can be pushed and today they push on direction and then next time they push it away. A marketing body is supposed to be demolished by Amsterdam. So that's one of the things I was looking at and then because of that I said, we need to form an association or a cooperative that can address your needs. And so far we are doing good as far as the cooperative is concerned. We have the bylaws, we have the registrar and his team on board and I must say that I was very surprised and you know when I saw the amount of efforts that they put in this whole cooperative development for the coconut vendors and stakeholders. The European Union and Cary Forum funded project received a further investment of 6 million euros to develop the region's coconut industry in phase two. Having commenced in 2019 phase two of the project focuses on improving the competitiveness of farmers and strengthening the coconut value chain. Climate change, health and nutrition, increasing investment and value added product development will be emphasized. Daniel explained that St. Lucia too will be intensifying efforts to boost the coconut industry from the raw products to agro processing and export. The platform will also be working with outside entities where possible in that vein. Some ventures include establishing MOUs with land owners to grow coconut trees outside of St. Lucia as well as the establishment of a venue dubbed Toot Bagai Coco. Recently, somebody said to me, Kenny, you don't know there's this food court in Rosili, obviously Bangkok, St. Lucia. I said, no, well, I don't really go travel up to the north because there's traffic jam and all these kinds of things, I sit down. And when I went I was surprised. I said, okay, let me see what we can do. So I went to the grocery council and spoke to the mayor and he was very accommodated. And then he says, hey, this is an excellent idea. And just like Peterson Francis and Cassie, he said to me, you're solving all our problems because you're bringing them together. And then once you bring them together, then we don't have the problem of roadside vending again. We still have people who want traditional coconut water. They want to seed. But eventually they'll understand that, hey, this is done on the sanitary conditions. So for example, if we get some space in Odza, you can deliver a thousand coconuts. We'll schedule everything. You deliver a thousand coconuts a day. Somebody has delivered a thousand tomorrow. And we go around working with the coconuts and doing what we have to do, you know. So eventually, you know, sell maybe a thousand coconuts every day. So you get to buy cocoa, get a gash, to buy everything. The project which will run until 2023 will be implemented by the International Trade Center in partnership with the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, CARDI and other regional and national partners. The project also aims to enable the participating Caribbean states to capitalize on rapidly growing global demands for coconuts. The global trade in coconut water alone is projected to grow by more than 25% in the next five years.