According to the United Nations, coconut production in the Philippines grew at the rate of 5.3 per cent per year from 1911 to 1929, and increased by 5.2 per cent from 1952 to 1966.[3]
A coconut tree in Boracay

In 2012, the Philippines exported more than 1.5-million metric tonnes of copra, coconut oil, copra meal, desiccated coconut, coco shell charcoal, activated carbon and coco chemicals, a 1.49 per cent increase compared to the volume exported in 2011.[4] In 1989, it produced 11.8 million tonnes and at the time was the second largest producer but has since surpassed Indonesia. In 1989, coconut products, coconut oil, copra (dried coconut), and desiccated coconut accounted for approximately 6.7 percent of Philippine exports.[5] About 25 percent of cultivated land was planted in coconut trees, and it is estimated that between 25 percent and 33 percent of the population was at least partly dependent on coconuts for their livelihood. Historically, the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions of Luzon and the Eastern Visayas were the centers of coconut production.[5] In the 1980s, Western Mindanao and Southern Mindanao also became important coconut-growing regions.

In the early 1990s, the average coconut farm was a medium-sized unit of less than four hectares. Owners, often absentee, customarily employed local peasants to collect coconuts rather than engage in tenancy relationships. The villagers were paid on a piece-rate basis. Those employed in the coconut industry tended to be less educated and older than the average person in the rural labor force and earned lower-than-average incomes.[5]

There are 3.5 million hectares dedicated to coconut production in the Philippines, which accounts for 25 per cent of total agricultural land in the country.[4] Land devoted to cultivation of coconuts increased by about 6 percent per year during the 1960s and 1970s, a response to