OraSoil - Waste to Wealth

SDG Changemakers Ltd

OraSoil - Waste to Wealth

Waste to wealth - supporting smallholder coconut farmers while restoring earth’s natural harmony

United Kingdom and New Zealand

NZL

Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit

Despite booming global demand for coconut products, food security in coconut-growing regions is severely threatened. Over 50% of the world’s coconut palms have passed their economic bearing age of 60 years, and replanting efforts have failed to keep pace. In Indonesia alone, up to 120 million elite seedlings are needed to rehabilitate just 20% of the estate. Globally, replanting needs exceed 900 million seedlings, at an estimated cost of USD $2.7 billion. In some cases, senile coconut palms are being replaced by oil palms. Deep structural issues compound the failure to replant senile palms: smallholders lack access to elite planting materials, finance, technical support, and market incentives. Most smallholder farmers are unaware of the varieties they grow or how to replace them with climate-resilient alternatives. Meanwhile, the dominant copra trade leaves them in poverty, with only 10–16% of each coconut being economically used and up to 84% wasted. This has created a systemic crisis: falling yields, declining rural nutrition, shrinking household incomes, and widespread land-use conversion to oil palm. These same areas also lack clean energy and need nature-based cooling options. Without intervention, millions of livelihoods—and a critical food and income crop for 80 million smallholders across 90 countries—remain at risk.

Our solution addresses the imbalance at the smallholder level by creating community-owned, solar-powered Fibre Hubs that turn coconut waste into high-value products like coir geotextiles, cocopeat, and charcoal. These hubs are part of a hub-and-spoke network, where smallholder farmers supply coconut by-products to the hub and receive training, equipment access, and market linkages in return. Each Fibre Hub is a compact, low-tech processing unit designed to operate efficiently in rural settings. Farmers deliver coconut husks and shells, which are typically wasted materials. Using simple mechanical equipment powered by solar energy, the hub extracts coir fibre to produce geotextiles for erosion control, processes cocopeat for soil and horticultural use, and converts shells into clean-burning charcoal. The products are sold under the OraSoil brand in local and export markets. Revenue is shared between the farmer-owned Fibre Hub, OraSoil, and impact investors. Profits fund replanting new coconut palms, encourage intercropping with food and high-value crops, and improve local soil health, helping build food and income security. The use of solar energy makes the model low-cost and sustainable. Starting in Fiji, the hub-and-spoke system is designed to scale across 90 coconut-growing communities, regenerating land and livelihoods while turning waste into wealth.

Our solution directly serves smallholder coconut farmers, including women and young people in rural and coastal communities, most affected by declining coconut yields and limited income opportunities. These farmers and their families, who often manage less than two hectares of land, are typically excluded from value-added processing, lack access to quality planting materials, and have few viable alternatives when ageing palms stop producing. Many rely on copra—a low-value, labour-intensive product—for income, leaving them vulnerable to market fluctuations and intermediaries. Women, in particular, are underrepresented in the coconut value chain, and young people are leaving agriculture due to a lack of opportunity. Our community-owned Fibre Hubs provide training, equipment, and market access, enabling farmers to turn coconut waste into high-value products like geotextiles, cocopeat, and charcoal. The model creates new, climate-resilient income streams, funds to replant with improved varieties, and supports intercropping with food and high-value crops. Operating in a hub-and-spoke model creates an inclusive local economy with shared profits and capacity built. The result is more resilient farming systems, improved food security, and dignified livelihoods, particularly for women and youth, who are now active participants in a regenerative coconut economy that works for both people and the planet.