The production of coconut oil is the economic support of the inhabitants of a rural community settled on the remote Espiritu Santo Island, 123 kilometers from the capital of The Savior, an activity that has also made it the country’s benchmark in the production of this product.
This island, also known as El Jobal and home to approximately 2,000 people, is located in Jiquilisco Bay, in the department of Usulután (east), and can only be accessed by sea transport.
The island’s biggest attraction is a vast coconut palm cultivation area of 1,700 manzanas (1,190 hectares) along with a coconut processing and manufacturing factory. coconut oil for various uses, such as cosmetics or cooking.
A palm tree reaches a height of 20 to 30 metres and the optimal conditions for coconut cultivation are tropical climatic conditions, such as those of Espiritu Santo Island because the palm is a plant extremely sensitive to frost.
The El Jobal Cooperative is responsible for the industrial production of coconut oil and flour, which is used in baking and pork concentrate. Salvador Panameño, worker and member of the cooperative, explained to EFE that the process for making the oil is cutting the coconut, then a group of women is in charge of piling up, selecting and extracting the coconut. “meal” from the coconut.
The wood is then placed on an open-air surface to receive sunlight for seven to eight days to dry, and then it is processed in a factory that is more than 50 years old, said Panameño.
The cooperative also sells coconuts to local residents who make coconut preserves, a typical sweet from this Central American country, and to market traders. The cooperative sells between three and ten tons of oil to private companies; in addition, the factory employs approximately 11 people, plus the 170 members who make up the company, Panameño explained.
The inhabitants of Espiritu Santo Island also engage in fishing and shellfish extraction activities to support themselves economically. In the modest community there are no cars and the means of internal transport are motorcycles adapted to carry passengers, horses and bicycles.
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Source: Gestion
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