Preface

Abstract

The extreme weather event due to climate change is a major threat to agriculture including the coconut sector. Typical impacts of climate change including floods, longer droughts, landslides, increased pest populations and disease severity can lead to yield losses and therefore pose challenges for coconut farmers and other stakeholders. Several studies have reported that climate change could reduce crop yields by 1-2 % per decade over the past century, and the adverse impacts are predicted to increase in the future if there are no effective adaptation and mitigation strategies in place.There is a need to realize the magnitude and potential irreversibility of climate change and the threats and dynamics of extreme climate change impacts. It is also crucial to identify the causes of the vulnerability and points of resilience as well as to identify adaptation and mitigation management interventions, comprehensive standards and policy tools that may assist and accelerate resilience to climate change. The vulnerability of agriculture including the coconut sector to the impacts of climate change and the potential contribution of coconut sector in mitigating the impacts has prompted the International Coconut Community (ICC) to promote “Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy for a Resilient and Sustainable Coconut Agroindustry” as the theme of the 50th COCOTECH conference and Exhibition.ICC glad to acknowledge the Honorable State Ministers and elected leaders from ICC member countries, Heads of Missions, Delegations of Senior Government Officials, Eminent Resource Persons, UN Bodies Representatives, International Partner Agencies, Private Sector Industry Stakeholders, Distinguished Participants and Friends of Coconut. International COCOTECH is officially mandated as the Technical Panel for the coconut community at which important knowledge, information, innovative technologies, appropriate recommendation and policy are gathered, shared, exchanged and applied throughout the global coconut industry to ensure the sustainability of the coconut sector.Special appreciation was given to the host facilities for this conference is provided by the Government of Malaysia through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia from 7-11 November 2022.We acknowledge and appreciate the participation of various stakeholders in the coconut value chain around the world comprising policymakers, senior government officials, researchers, extensionists, traders, product processors, machinery manufacturers, exporters, importers, farmers, and the friends of coconut. The Community is indebted to the high caliber of eminent resource persons that include experts in the fields of agriculture, industry, commerce, biotechnology, chemistry, clinical science, and much more, who willingly accepted to sacrifice time from their heavy work commitments and schedules to be here to provide invaluable inputs to this Conference. Diverse, appropriate, and useful information, knowledge, and technologies would be imparted from these resource persons with a great wealth of experience as well as their respective levels of expertise. The subjects covered during the Conference would assist in preparing farming communities to counter the challenges and maximize benefits from the opportunities that are presented.List of COCOTECH Scientific Committee Members are available in this pdf.