In the Philippines, where coconut palms line the coasts and anchor rural livelihoods, a quiet transformation is underway. At the World Coconut Congress 2025 in Manila, the International Labour Organization (ILO) introduced an ambitious vision: harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and circular economy principles to reimagine the coconut sector as a driver of inclusive, climate-resilient growth.
This initiative, led under the ILO’s Inclusive, Competitive, and Responsible Digital Philippines (Digital-PINAS) programme, seeks to turn traditional coconut farming into a high-value, sustainable enterprise that uplifts workers, strengthens local economies, and ensures no part of the coconut goes to waste.
A Sector at a Turning Point
Despite its cultural and economic importance, the coconut industry has long struggled with low productivity, volatile prices, and widespread poverty. In Siargao, an island where coconut plantations cover more than half the land area, many smallholder farmers continue to depend almost exclusively on copra, a low-value export product.
Over 80 percent of coconut by-products are discarded, representing not only lost income but also a missed opportunity for circular innovation. Meanwhile, Siargao’s thriving tourism sector, which welcomed over 529,000 visitors in 2023, has yet to fully benefit local coconut communities.
A New Vision: Circular, Smart, and Inclusive
The ILO’s proposed model centers on circularity, maximizing value from every component of the coconut. Beyond copra, farmers can generate income through virgin coconut oil, vinegar, soap, coir, candy, and eco-products, creating diverse value chains that foster entrepreneurship and reduce waste.
Technology serves as a catalyst. Through AI-powered SCORE training, piloted under Digital-PINAS, the ILO is helping micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) modernize and scale. The programme equips local businesses to help professionalize operations through 5S, occupational safety and health, and quality assurance systems. Optimize resources and reduce waste using AI-assisted planning, strengthen local procurement links with hotels, resorts, and local governments, and expand their market reach through digital marketing and AI-powered language translation.
“AI does not replace workers — it empowers them,” the ILO underscored during its presentation.
Siargao: A Model for Island Innovation
In Del Carmen, home to the Philippines’ largest contiguous mangrove forest and a newly designated Ramsar Wetland Site, this vision is already taking shape.
Former mangrove cutters have become environmental rangers, protecting ecosystems they once depended on. Local enterprises are producing eco-friendly alternatives to charcoal and leveraging coconut by-products to serve the growing tourism market.
Supported by SCORE training and Digital-PINAS, Siargao is evolving into a lighthouse model — a demonstration site for how AI-enabled circular economies can drive climate resilience, inclusive livelihoods, and sustainable tourism across Southeast Asia’s small islands.
Scaling Up Through Partnership
The ILO is calling for a multi-stakeholder collaboration by bringing together government agencies, private sector actors, and development partners to replicate and scale this model across the Philippines and beyond.
The objective is to build a zero-waste, digitally enabled coconut economy that empowers workers, farmers, women, and youth, and ensures the benefits of growth are broadly and equitably shared.
In a time when nations are seeking climate-smart pathways to inclusive development, the coconut may once again take center stage. And in Siargao, that future is already in motion.
Original article: https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/ai-and-circular-economies-new-future-coconut-sector
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