Copra Copra FarmersFarmersin thein the

Marshall Marshall IslandsIslands

A Brief Statistical Analysis ofA 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.

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The Early Years…

(source: Spennemann, Dirk H.R. (2000). Historic Copra Production of the Marshall Islands: Annual Production Albury: [ISSN: XXX XXX XXX] URL: http:/life.csu.edu.au/marshall/html/copra/annprodcopra.html)

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.

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Copra Farming: Volatile yet PopularOf 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

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Major Occupations of RMI's 7,035 Non-Public Employees : 1999

All others(fewer than 20 persons per

category)29%

Fishermen3%

Mechanics, Machine and Engine Workers

3%Retail Sales, Traders and Related

Workers3%

Transportation Related Workers

5%

Cooks, Hotel, Bar and Restaurant

Workers5%

Bookkeepers, Cashiers, Tellers

and Collectors7%

Handicraft Makers and Tailorers

10%

Construction, Repair, Service and

Related Workers11%

Coconut Farmers24%

Non-Public Occupations5 of 15

Trends: 1967 to 1999

This decreased to 1,060 in 1973.

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 1999.

The number of copra farmers in 1967, according to the census from that year, was 1,644.

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RMI Copra Farmers by Atoll/Island: 1967 to 1999Subject 1967 1973 1988 1999

Total 1,644 1,060 1,653 1,730

Ailinglaplap 177 180 -- 218

Ailuk 51 34 -- 80

Arno 204 127 -- 212

Aur 61 38 -- 89

Bikini 0 0 -- 0

Ebon 101 83 -- 111

Enewetak 0 0 -- 24

Jabat -- 5 -- 9

Jaluit 95 80 -- 119

Kili 0 45 -- 1

Kwajalein 2 0 -- 2

Lae 1 15 -- 19

Lib 28 2 -- 17

Likiep 65 37 -- 43

Majuro 183 82 -- 60

Maloelap 78 32 -- 111

Mejit 42 28 -- 139

Mili 104 50 -- 139

Namdrik 91 57 -- 102

Namu 85 64 -- 121

Rongelap 28 6 -- 0

Ujae 16 11 -- 22

Ujelang 29 1 -- 0

Utirik 42 20 -- 32

Wotho 0 6 -- 5

Wotje 62 57 -- 55

Not stated 99 0 -- 0

Notes: -- means data not available.

Data for individuals over age 15 and w hose declared occupation w as

copra farmers or copra makers.

Source: RMI OPS and Insular Areas Statistical Enhancement Program

Total Farmers7 of 15

Total Copra Farmers: 1967 to 1999

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

2,000

1967 1973 1988 1999

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).

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Copra Farmers on Majuro: 1967 to 1999

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

1967 1973 1999

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.

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Copra Farmers in Ralik and Ratak Chains: 1967 to 1999

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1967 1973 1999

Ralik Ratak

Female Participation

The number of female copra farmers increased nearly ten-fold from 25 in 1967 to 231 in 1999.

Mejit, Arno, and Mili had the highest number of women copra farmers in 1999.

Female participation in copra farming has sharply increased over time.

0

50

100

150

200

250

1967 1973 1988 1999

Female Copra Farmers: 1967 to 1999

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Female Copra Farmers by Atoll/Island: 1967 to 1999Subject 1967 1973 1988 1999

Total Female Farmers 25 90 55 231

Ailinglaplap 0 35 -- 15

Ailuk 0 1 -- 3

Arno 4 16 -- 35

Aur 0 0 -- 2

Bikini 0 0 -- 0

Ebon 3 0 -- 10

Enewetak 0 0 -- 1

Jabat -- 0 -- 1

Jaluit 3 6 -- 12

Kili 0 0 -- 0

Kwajalein 0 0 -- 1

Lae 0 2 -- 3

Lib 0 0 -- 2

Likiep 2 0 -- 1

Majuro 4 0 -- 4

Maloelap 2 0 -- 7

Mejit 1 0 -- 66

Mili 5 11 -- 34

Namdrik 0 7 -- 9

Namu 0 10 -- 14

Rongelap 0 1 -- 0

Ujae 0 1 -- 1

Ujelang 0 0 -- 0

Utirik 0 0 -- 2

Wotho 0 0 -- 0

Wotje 0 0 -- 8

Not stated 1 0 -- 0

Notes: -- means data not available.

Data for individuals over age 15 and w hose declared occupation w as

copra farmers or copra makers.

Source: RMI OPS and Insular Areas Statistical Enhancement Program

Top Ten Atolls

0

50

100

150

200

250

Ailinglaplap Arno Mejit Mili Namu Jaluit Ebon Maloelap Namdrik Aur

Top Ten Atolls: 1999

Ailinlaplap, Jaluit, Ebon, Namdrik, Mili, Arno and Maloelap have had the highest number of farmers since 1967.

Majuro, which was #2 in 1967, fell out of the top 10 by 1999.

Mejit had only 42 farmers in 1967, but it more than tripled that number by 1999. Most of the “new” farmers on Mejit were females. Mejit had one female farmer in 1967 and 66 in 1999.

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Top Ten Atolls By Number of Farmers: 1967 and 1999

Atoll Farmers Atoll Farmers

Arno 204 Ailinglaplap 218

Majuro 183 Arno 212

Ailinglaplap 177 Mejit 139

Mili 104 Mili 139

Ebon 101 Namu 121

Jaluit 95 Jaluit 119

Namdrik 91 Ebon 111

Namu 85 Maloelap 111

Maloelap 78 Namdrik 102

Likiep 65 Aur 89

Notes: Data for individuals over age 15 and w hose declared

occupation w as copra farmers or copra makers.

Source: RMI OPS and Insular Areas Statistical Enhancement Program

1967 1999

Total Annual Production

Production peaked in 1995, at 7,728 short tons, dropped through 1999, and rebounded partially in 2000.

Total Production (short tons): 1891 to 2000 (avail. years)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

1891

1893

1895

1897

1951

1953

1955

1957

1959

1961

1963

1965

1967

1969

1971

1973

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

Total Copra Production (short tons): 1891 to 2000Year Kgs Short tons

2000 - 4,2721999 - 3,3551998 - 4,5631997 - 5,7761996 - 6,4441995 - 7,7281994 - 4,8361993 - 4,6271992 - 5,8611991 - 4,2131990 - 5,1591989 - 5,8051988 - 5,4751987 - 5,4051986 - 6,8151985 - 4,3011984 - 4,4831983 - 6,4901982 - 5,7741981 - 6,2881980 - 6,2571979 - 6,4881978 - 5,8761977 - 6,0751976 - 5,6851975 - 6,4821974 - 6,3361973 - 4,5741972 - 5,7151971 - 5,3441970 - 7,3481969 - 6,4011968 - 6,3111967 - 6,2721966 - 5,5541965 - 5,8071964 - 5,7421963 - 4,9751962 - 4,5211961 - 6,0601960 - 4,4361959 - 3,7001958 - 5,7011957 - 6,0341956 - 5,4801955 - 4,4341954 - 3,8961953 - 4,5801952 - 4,5651951 - 4,9801910 3,288,980 3,6181897 2,477,400 2,7251896 2,195,358 2,4151895 2,084,749 2,2931894 2,040,091 2,2441893 1,988,119 2,1871892 1,689,836 1,8591891 1,521,661 1,674

Source: RMI OPS and Insular Areas Statistical Enhancement Program

Spennemann, Dirk H.R. (2000). Historic Copra Production of

the Marshall Islands: Annual Prod. Albury: [ISSN: XXX XXX XXX]

http:/life.csu.edu.au/marshall/html/copra/annprodcopra.html

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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 1999. 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 1999.

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Annual Income and Production: 1967 to 1999Subject 1967 1973 1988 1999

Total production (short tons) 6,272 4,574 5,475 3,355

Avg. farmer price per ton ($) 132 110 220 300

Estimated farmer income ($) 828,000 503,000 1,205,000 1,007,000

Total reported farmers (census) 1,644 1,060 1,653 1,730

Farmer per capita income ($) 504 475 729 582

Farmer per capita production (short tons) 3.82 4.32 3.31 1.94

Notes: income figures not inflation adjusted; estimated farmer income = total prod. X avg. farmer price per ton

Source: RMI OPS and Insular Areas Statistical Enhancement Program

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.

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Average Farmer Production by Atoll/Island: 1999Total Production Avg. Per

Atoll/Island Farmers (short tons) Farmer

Wotje 55 308 5.6Jabat 9 45 5.0Arno 212 819 3.9Ebon 111 382 3.4Mili 139 424 3.1Namdrik 102 294 2.9Jaluit 119 293 2.5Ailinglaplap 218 516 2.4Maloelap 111 260 2.3Namu 121 282 2.3Aur 89 198 2.2Lib 17 36 2.1Wotho 5 10 2.0Majuro 60 98 1.6Utirik 32 45 1.4Lae 19 22 1.2Ujae 22 24 1.1Likiep 43 44 1.0Ailuk 80 65 0.8Mejit 139 108 0.8

Notes:

Data for individuals over age 15 and w hose declared occupation w as

copra farmers or copra makers.

Source: RMI OPS and Insular Areas Statistical Enhancement Program

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

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Jaba

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Nam

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Jalu

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Aili

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Wot

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Average Farmer Production (short tons) by Atoll/Island: 1999

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, email: benjamin.m.graham@census.gov (produced Nov. 2002)