Copra Farmers in the Marshall Islands A Brief Statistical Analysis of

What Is Copra? 2. Then it is dried, usually in the sun, so that it loses most of its water content. 1. The flesh or meat of the coconut must first be separated from the shell. 3. Once the flesh is sufficiently dried, it is bagged, weighed, and sold. 4. Coconut oil is extracted from the copra at a processing plant (Tobolar) and exported for use in an array of products. Copra is the dried out flesh of coconuts, from which coconut oil is extracted. The copra making process (simplified): 5. The byproduct of this process is often made into copra feed, which is often exported as well. 2 of 15

The Early Years… (source: Spennemann, Dirk H.R. (2000). Historic Copra Production of the Marshall Islands: Annual Production Albury: [ISSN: XXX XXX XXX] URL: Marshallese have made a living from copra farming now for over 100 years. The first real income-earning activity in the islands, the copra trade was first introduced by Germans in the late 1800s and quickly gained popularity throughout the Marshalls. By the turn of the century, hundreds of people on dozens of atolls in both the Ralik and Ratak were actively producing and selling or trading copra. By 1910, annual production had already reached an impressive 3,288,980 kilograms, or about 3,618 short tons. 3 of 15

Copra Farming: Volatile yet Popular Of the 7,035 people employed in the non- public sector in 1999, over 1,700 (24%) declared “coconut farmer” as their main occupation. Despite the high volatility in earnings, copra farming remains a popular economic activity among Marshallese, particularly in the outer atolls, where economic options are still quite limited. This makes copra farming the largest single occupation group in the RMI. Copra farming has proven to be a volatile occupation. A farmer’s earnings are affected by a number of factors, including:  the world market supply, demand and price for coconut oil and related products  levels of RMI government price subsidization for copra  domestic (and sometimes international) shipping service  local taxes  the weather 4 of 15

Non-Public Occupations 5 of 15

Trends: 1967 to 1999 This decreased to 1,060 in By 1988, the number was back up to over 1,600. And by 1999, it surpassed 1,700. In 1999, over 96 percent of copra farmers resided in the outer islands (not Majuro or Kwajalein). Only two people in Kwajalein Atoll reported their occupation as copra farming in The number of copra farmers in 1967, according to the census from that year, was 1, of 15

Total Farmers 7 of 15

Majuro Farmers Not surprisingly, the number of copra farmers on Majuro in 1999 (60) was less than one-third of the number in 1967 (183). 8 of 15

Ralik and Ratak About 60 percent of copra farmers in 1967 were in the Ratak chain. By 1973, slightly more than half of all farmers were in the Ralik. And by 1999, the distribution returned to 60 percent in the Ratak. 9 of 15

Female Participation The number of female copra farmers increased nearly ten- fold from 25 in 1967 to 231 in Mejit, Arno, and Mili had the highest number of women copra farmers in Female participation in copra farming has sharply increased over time. 10 of 15

Top Ten Atolls Ailinlaplap, Jaluit, Ebon, Namdrik, Mili, Arno and Maloelap have had the highest number of farmers since Majuro, which was #2 in 1967, fell out of the top 10 by Mejit had only 42 farmers in 1967, but it more than tripled that number by Most of the “new” farmers on Mejit were females. Mejit had one female farmer in 1967 and 66 in of 15

Total Annual Production Production peaked in 1995, at 7,728 short tons, dropped through 1999, and rebounded partially in of 15 There has been high fluctuation in year-to-year production levels.

Individual Income & Production Income: Farmer per capita income (total production X avg. price per ton  number of reported farmers) increased slightly from $504 to $582 from 1967 to In real terms, however, factoring in price increases (inflation), copra farmer earnings have diminished significantly over time. Production: Farmer per capita production has also diminished over time. The average farmer produced nearly four tons of copra in 1967 and just below two tons in of 15

Production Efficiency The 55 farmers on Wotje produced a reported 308 short tons of copra, or 5.6 tons each. The data suggest that in 1999, farmers on Wotje and Jabat were the most efficient at producing copra. If the average copra bag weighs around 100 pounds, then the average Wotje farmer produced over 100 bags in 1999, and Jabat farmers weren’t far behind. 14 of 15

Summary Points: 15 of 15 Marshallese, particularly outer islanders, have relied on copra farming for over 100 years Despite the volatility in earnings, copra farming remains the largest single occupation group in the RMI today The number of female copra farmers in the RMI increased dramatically between 1967 and 1999 Ailinlaplap, Jaluit, Ebon, Namdrik, Mili, Arno and Maloelap have had the most copra farmers Total annual production in the RMI has fluctuated widely over time Copra farmers’ real earnings have diminished significantly over time Copra production efficiency appears to have been highest among farmers in Wotje and Jabat in 1999 Overall, copra production per farmer was lower in 1999 than in 1967 This presentation is produced under the auspices of the Insular Areas Statistical Enhancement Program and is not an official RMI or US Census Bureau report. For questions or comments, (produced Nov. 2002)