Vita Coco program helps local coconut farmers
Vita Coco coconut water teams up with Generation Hope, one of the country’s cause-oriented, non-profit foundations, for the Vita Coco Hope in a Coconut program to help make Philippine coconut farmers’ lives a little better.
Lately, everyone seems to be going nuts over coconuts, but unfortunately, Manong Farmer and his coconut-farming friends just can’t seem to keep up with the high demand. Although the Philippines is the second major grower and supplier of coconut products in the world, it actually has the lowest harvest among the top five producing countries. To maintain its position, the Philippines will need to amp up its coconut production by at least 50 percent over the next 10 years. Clearly, an intervention is needed to support local farmers, improve productivity, and increase the average income of the country’s coconut farmers.
Enter The Vita Coco Hope in a Coconut Program, which is just a part of Vita Coco’s long-term, ongoing global mission to give, grow, and guide and make a meaningful impact not just on their customers, but on the lives of the people they work with. The Vita Coco Hope in a Coconut Program helps local farmers reach their full potential and keep up with the crazy demand for coconuts, for this year and the years to come. The program provides farmers with quality coconut seedlings and teaches them the best farming methods and practices. Farmers are taught how to generate more sources of income by simply planting other types of crops among their coconut trees as well. The program also promotes education by giving their communities access to better learning environments by constructing more classrooms.
The Vita Coco Hope in a Coconut programallows you to directly lend a hand and become part of strengthening the coconut farming community. Five pesos from every pack that you purchase will go straight to the funds of the program. Just think, the money you pitch in goes directly into growing coco nuts, which eventually could end up inside the Vita Coco in the palm of your hand.
Last June, Vita Coco’s own program ambassadors, Ellen Adarna and Bogart the Explorer, headed to General Santos, Mindanao, to experience the pillars of the Vita Coco Hope in a Coconut program for themselves. The funloving pair visited schools where they witnessed just how important the program was to the community: in a school where classes were once held under the shade of nearby trees now stand 12 classrooms. At least 10 more classrooms are in the works, too.
Ellen and Bogart also visited a coconutfarm where they got a personal tour from a farmer and a few farmer engagement officers, planted their own coconut trees, and had a crash course on Coconut Farming 101. The two also made their way to Vita Coco’ s coconut water-packing facility, where they witnessed how simple and natural it is to produce VitaCoco, from picking, to cracking, to packing.
Being a teacher and a farmer for the day helped them realize that coconut farmers and the farming communities need as much help as they can get. Now they and the farming communities they’ve visited have a fruitful story to tell.
To learn more, visit the brand’s website at www.vitacoco.com/ph. Follow the conversation@ Vita Coco Ph. Don’ t forget to use the hash tag #HopeInACoconut.