If there is one thing I want every farmer to understand before planting coconut, it is this:
If you want to learn how to market coconut in Nigeria, start by understanding who will buy your coconuts before you plant them.
Please!
I have seen farmers produce good agricultural products and then start struggling.
They have harvested.
The coconuts are ready.
The truck is waiting.
The labourers are ready.
Then somebody asks:
“Who is buying?”
And the farmer says:
“I'm still looking for buyers.”
Hmmm...
This is where I don't want you to find yourself.
Because farming is not only about producing.
And this is one of the reasons I am particularly excited about coconut farming.
The question should also be:
You can have beautiful coconut trees.
You can have healthy fruits.
You can have a wonderful harvest.
But if you don't have a market strategy, you may find yourself selling under pressure.
And when a farmer is under pressure to sell quickly...
the buyer often has more bargaining power.
That is why I always tell farmers:
Not when the coconuts are already falling from the trees.
If you are still learning how coconut farming works in Nigeria, I recommend starting with my guide on Coconut Farming in Nigeria: 10 Things You Must Know Before Starting.
Coconut farming is not only about producing the crop; understanding what happens after harvest is also important. The FAO's sustainable coconut production guide provides useful information on production and post-harvest management.
This is where our own experience becomes interesting.
Through our Coconut Planting Challenge, we have been receiving serious demand from companies looking for large volumes of coconut.
We have had a demand request of about:
from one company.
And another company has requested about:
Read that again.
500,000 coconuts every day!
And honestly...
Why?
Because producing large volumes of coconut requires large numbers of farmers producing consistently.
One farmer cannot easily solve that kind of demand alone.
Ten farmers may not solve it.
Even 100 farmers may not be enough depending on the required volume and specifications.
This is where farmer aggregation becomes very important.
Let me explain something about large companies.
If a company needs a very large quantity of coconut, it doesn't necessarily want to start running around from one small farm to another.
Imagine a company needs hundreds of thousands of coconuts.
Would they rather deal with:
Farmer 1 → 50 coconuts
Farmer 2 → 100 coconuts
Farmer 3 → 200 coconuts
Farmer 4 → 70 coconuts
and continue like that?
Or would they prefer somebody who can coordinate many farmers and aggregate the production?
And this is one of the opportunities we are building around the Coconut Planting Challenge.
Let's say you have one farmer with:
80 coconut trees.
Another farmer has:
100 trees.
Another:
200 trees.
Another:
500 trees.
Individually, their volumes may not look enormous.
But bring many farmers together...
That is the power of aggregation.
And this is why our Coconut Planting Challenge is not simply about:
“Buy 10 coconut seedlings and plant them.”
There is a bigger picture.
We want to encourage more people to plant coconut so that, over time, we can build a strong network of coconut farmers capable of supplying large buyers.
If you have been following this article series, you will notice something.
We didn't start with marketing.
We started with:
How to Plant Dwarf Hybrid Coconut in Nigeria
Then:
Best Coconut Varieties for Nigeria
Then:
How to Choose Good Coconut Seedlings in Nigeria
Then:
How Many Coconut Trees Can You Plant on One Acre?
Then:
Best Spacing for Coconut Trees in Nigeria
Then:
How Long Does Coconut Take to Start Producing?
Then:
Is Coconut Farming Profitable in Nigeria?
Then:
Cost of Starting a Coconut Farm in Nigeria
Then:
Best Soil for Coconut Farming in Nigeria
Then:
Coconut Fertilizer Guide for Nigerian Farmers
And now:
Do you see how everything connects?
You cannot talk about profit without talking about the market.
Imagine this.
You plant coconut today.
You manage the farm properly.
Around three years later, your Farmvilla dwarf hybrid coconut starts fruiting.
You are excited!
You have coconuts.
But then you ask:
“Who will buy them?”
You start searching.
You call people.
You post on WhatsApp.
You ask friends.
You go to the market.
You negotiate with different buyers.
Maybe you find somebody.
Maybe you don't.
That is not the position I want you to be in.
This is another important question.
A buyer doesn't simply say:
“Give me coconut.”
They may have specific requirements.
They may want:
This is especially important when dealing with companies.
A company that needs a large quantity cannot afford to receive supply today and nothing tomorrow.
That is why farmer aggregation is so important.
Let's say a company needs a huge volume.
You have one farm.
Your neighbour has another farm.
Another farmer is 20 kilometres away.
Another farmer is in another community.
If there is no coordination, the company has a problem.
But if farmers are organised and their production can be aggregated...
That is what makes me excited about the Coconut Planting Challenge.
We are building a community of people who are planting coconut.
When you buy our dwarf hybrid coconut seedlings, you are not simply receiving seedlings and being left alone.
You receive video guides on how to plant your coconut seedlings.
And you can join our WhatsApp community of almost 500 coconut farmers.
Almost 500 people!
🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴
Farmers can ask questions.
Farmers can share experiences.
Farmers can learn from one another.
Farmers can follow the development of their coconut farms.
And as these farms grow, we are building something bigger:
Today, many of the farmers are looking at small coconut seedlings.
Some may still be preparing their land.
Some have already planted.
Some are watching their trees grow.
But over time...
Those seedlings become trees.
Those trees produce fruits.
And those fruits become part of the supply available to the market.
Now imagine hundreds of farmers doing that.
And that is the opportunity we are working toward.
I don't want farmers to plant coconut simply because I tell them:
“Coconut is profitable.”
I want them to understand why there is a market opportunity.
When companies approach us asking for large volumes, it tells us something very important:
The challenge is not always finding buyers.
Sometimes the challenge is:
And that is a very different problem!
😂
I would rather have the challenge of building enough production to meet serious demand than have thousands of farmers producing without knowing where their coconuts will go.
When I say that we have buyers looking for large volumes, I am not telling you:
“Buy 10 seedlings today and Farmvilla will automatically buy every coconut you ever produce.”
No.
Let's be responsible.
Your actual harvest will depend on your farm, the number of productive trees, yield, quality, timing and other factors.
And company purchases will depend on their specifications, contracts, timing, quality requirements and available demand.
What we are building is a market connection and aggregation system.
That's the bigger picture.
Let's make it practical.
Don't wait until harvest.
Start identifying potential buyers early.
Think about:
Know what each market wants.
Are you selling:
Young coconut?
Mature coconut?
Coconut for processing?
Coconut for direct consumption?
The buyer's needs can be different.
So understand your product.
This is extremely important.
Don't tell a buyer:
“I have plenty of coconut.”
😂
How many?
1,000?
10,000?
50,000?
100,000?
Know your numbers.
Large buyers want numbers.
If you tell a buyer:
“I can supply you every week.”
Then you need to be able to supply every week.
Don't promise what you cannot deliver.
A buyer who knows you can consistently deliver is more valuable than a buyer who simply pays a good price once.
This is something I strongly recommend.
Don't wait until you have harvested before meeting buyers.
Start learning about the market.
Visit potential buyers.
Talk to processors.
Understand their requirements.
Ask questions.
Find out:
What quantity do you need?
What quality do you need?
How often do you buy?
Where do you want delivery?
What are your specifications?
You are gathering market intelligence.
Even though having a ready market connection is valuable, I still encourage farmers to understand multiple market channels.
Why?
Because markets change.
Demand changes.
Prices change.
Buyer requirements change.
Transportation costs change.
Build relationships.
Understand the market.
Have alternatives.
Suppose you find a buyer willing to buy your coconut.
Wonderful!
Then you discover the cost of transporting the coconuts to the buyer is eating up your profit.
Hmmmm.
That's why your market isn't just:
“Who will buy?”
It is also:
Transportation is part of the economics.
This is where our Coconut Planting Challenge becomes especially interesting.
If many farmers produce coconut in an organised network, their individual harvests can potentially be aggregated into larger volumes.
That can make it easier to approach buyers who require substantial quantities.
This is not only about selling seedlings.
Of course, Farmvilla supplies dwarf hybrid coconut seedlings.
But I want to see more farmers establishing productive coconut farms.
Why?
Because the more productive farmers we have...
The more production we can potentially aggregate.
The more production we can aggregate...
The more seriously we can approach large-volume buyers.
And the more farmers understand the market...
Let's imagine.
We already have a WhatsApp community of almost 500 coconut farmers.
Now imagine those farmers continue planting.
They maintain their farms.
The trees grow.
They start producing.
Farmers begin harvesting.
Instead of everyone asking:
“Who will buy my coconut?”
We can increasingly think:
That's a completely different conversation.
And that's the direction I want us to go.
This is the biggest lesson I want you to take from this article.
Start early.
Understand the buyers.
Understand their requirements.
Understand your production capacity.
Keep records.
Build relationships.
Learn about aggregation.
And think about value addition.
Because remember:
If you are reading this and saying:
“Yinka, I don't even have coconut yet!”
That's okay.
Start with the foundation.
Get suitable planting material.
Learn how to plant.
Prepare your land.
Use proper spacing.
Manage your soil.
Manage your water.
Take care of the young palms.
And start learning about the market while the trees are growing.
You don't have to wait three years before learning how to sell.
This is what I want people to understand about the Coconut Planting Challenge.
We are encouraging people to plant coconut.
We provide dwarf hybrid coconut seedlings.
We provide video planting guides.
We have a WhatsApp community of almost 500 coconut farmers.
And we are working toward connecting production from this growing farmer network with large-volume market opportunities.
Because I don't want farmers to be planting blindly.
Think about the journey:
Seedling
↓
Planting
↓
Growth
↓
Fruiting
↓
Harvest
↓
Aggregation
↓
Buyer
↓
Processing
↓
Value addition
↓
That is the coconut value chain.
And the more farmers understand the whole chain, the better positioned they are to make good decisions.
If you ask me:
“Yinka, how do I market my coconut?”
I will tell you:
Know your product.
Know your volume.
Know your buyers.
Understand their requirements.
Build relationships.
Think about transportation.
Keep records.
And where possible, work with other farmers to aggregate production.
Because this is what we are seeing through the Coconut Planting Challenge:
There is serious demand for coconut.
We have received requests around 150,000 coconuts from one company and another request of about 500,000 coconuts every day from another company.
And our challenge has been:
That is why I keep encouraging people to plant.
Not just because I want to sell seedlings.
But because we need more productive coconut farmers.
And when you buy our dwarf hybrid coconut seedlings, you don't have to start the journey alone.
You get video guides on how to plant, and you can join our WhatsApp community of almost 500 coconut farmers, where you can ask questions freely, learn from other farmers and follow the growth of your coconut together.
Let me ask you a serious farmer's question:
Or would you still prefer to plant an annual crop that you can harvest within a few months?
Tell me what you think in the comments. Let's discuss! 🌴🥥
