The Solomon Islands Agriculture Rural Transformation (SIART) Project is expecting coconut output to rise among the Agribusiness Producer Organizations (ABPOs) it backs in Guadalcanal, Malaita and Makira/Ulawa Province, according to a SIART media release dated Monday 28 September in Honiara and published on the Solomon Islands Government portal.

Backing for the 14 ABPOs in those provinces amounts to an investment of SBD5.2 million, the release said, with 3 groups based in Guadalcanal Province, 4 in Malaita and 7 in Makira/Ulawa.

Farmers belonging to the organisations were helped by the project to rehabilitate 771 hectares of coconut plantations, the release said, while 46 driers were either built new or restored using project money.

Figures recently collected by SIART put the combined output of the 14 ABPOs at an average of around 700kg per hectare at present, or 540 tons from the 771 hectares, according to the release.

"After rehabilitation the production of copra should increase to 1.5 tons per hectare," SIART Project Manager, Mr. Okekini, said in the release. He added: "Production from the rehabilitated 771 hectares is expected to produce around 1.157 tons, an increase of 617 tons of dried copra worth $4.32 million per annum at $7 per kg."

Some 418 households across the three provinces are gaining from the support, with as many as 2,340 beneficiaries in their communities, the release said. Other assistance it listed includes 11 nurseries holding 27,000 seedlings, equal to 219 hectares, plus 11 sheds for storage, the building of 46 hot air driers, equipment, training in capacity building and working capital of $820,000 to run the agribusinesses.

The release described SIART as a World Bank funded initiative carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) and intended to lift smallholder farming, widen market access and shift subsistence growers into commercial operations that can be sustained.

Source: Based on a SIART media release, "Increased coconut production in sight for SIART supported ABPOs", published on the Solomon Islands Government portal (solomons.gov.sb) on 29 September 2026 and dated Monday 28 September. https://solomons.gov.sb/increased-coconut-production-in-sight-for-siart-supported-abpos/