The Secretariat of the International Coconut Community as the host organization of the International Coconut Genetic Network, organized the 39th COGENT Steering Committee Meeting back-to-back with the COCOTECH meeting that took place on July 26, 2024 in Westin Hotel, Surabaya, Indonesia. This meeting was convened on a hybrid platform with the theme of Unlocking the Transformation pathways of COGENT under ICC, for furthering its efficiency and vitality as the times change. This meeting was successfully organized via physical participation of the newly designated COGENT focal persons of the nineteen ICC member countries and some of the team leaders of the International Thematic Action Groups (ITAGs) who attended and served as resource persons in the COCOTECH Exhibition and Conference and other reputed COGENT members and scientists who joined on-line and actively participated in the discussion. This meeting aimed to REVIEW, REVIVE and REVITALIZE the COGENTs new directions in achieving the milestones of the Global Strategy Plan/Road Map in its journey towards transformation.
The meeting was presided over by the Director of ICAR Coconut Research Institute (CRI) of India, Dr. Balachandra K. Hebbar and he was joined in the panel by the ICC Executive Director, Dr. Jelfina Alouw, ICC Technical Working Group Chairman (Ret) General and former Administrator of the Philippine Coconut Authority, Mr. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. and the current COGENT Coordinator Mrs. Erlene Manohar. The meeting highlighted the introduction of the COGENT focals and genebank curators of ICG-LAC Dr. Emiliano Fernandes Costa, ICG-AIO, Dr. Jean Konan-Konan, Dr. Niral Vittal of ICG-SAME, Dr. Stevie Karouw of ICG-SEA, Dr. Millicent Wallace of NCG-Jamaica, Dr. Christhoper Bai of NCG-Malaysia, Mr. Ken Vicente of NCG-Philippines and Dr. D, M. Dissayanake curator of the NCG-Sri Lanka. Curators also discussed the situation, challenges and support to the genebanks of their host institutions in establishing and maintaining the coconut genebanks despite the complexities and limited resources.
The proposed administrative policies and guidelines for the new structure and changes in the governance of COGENT were recommended to the Steering Committee and explicitly discussed by ICC Assistant Director Nuwan Chinthaka, including the SC selection criteria and the Steering Committee nomination process.
The COGENT Coordinator provided a comprehensive glimpse of the COGENT’s narrative, the status, challenges and opportunities of the transition from Bioversity to ICC. She focused on the way forward and unified actions of Rethinking COGENT Initiatives and Policies and Harnessing Conservation, Exchange and Use of Coconut Genetic Resources in Addressing Productivity Challenges, Climate Change Resiliency and Coping with Industry Opportunities. She emphasized that COGENT with ICC aims not only efficient germplasm conservation, exchange and utilization but also in building a strong R and D network with committed experts and ITAGs members advocating science-based foundation of sustainable productivity strategies utilizing the genetic resources with the end-goal of prosperity for the industry linked to livelihood of coconut farming communities. She also stressed that COGENT is indebted to FAO-ITGRFA, ACIAR-DFAT and CIRAD, for their unswerving support to COGENT in the continuity of its commitment in protecting the genetic resources for its valuable uses.
The COGENT Coordinator effectively synthesized the proposed technical, strategic and policy concerns raised during the meeting rationalizing the COGENT’s pivotal role in coconut diversity conservation, protection and utilization. These are of paramount importance and worth sustaining for the welfare of the coconut industry stakeholders especially the farmers as the source and foundation of industry growth. The emphasis was on the need for effective structure and POLICY governance, CAPACITY BUILDING initiatives on genebanks data management and knowledge sharing, CONSULTATIONS with stakeholders in planning, INVESTMENT promotion for resource mobilization, strengthening INCLUSIVE engagement of policy makers and private sector to be RESPONSIVE to the needs of the industry.
The meeting featured two notable presentations from partner organizations. Dr. Sarada Krishnan, Director of Programs at the Global Crop Diversity Trust, presented "The Crop Trust Pathways of Strengthening the Coconut Genebanks and Proposed Institutional Partnership with ICC-COGENT and Host Countries," focusing on enhancing the resilience and capacity of coconut genebanks through strategic partnerships. Dr. Andrea Garavito-Guyot, Coconut Geneticist and Coconut Supply Chain Correspondent at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), France, presented “Innovating for Sustainable Coconut Conservation: CIRAD’s Role in Global Coconut Research and Development,” emphasizing CIRAD's contributions to sustainable coconut conservation and its role in advancing global coconut research. Active participation from figures such as Dr. Daniele from FAO, Dr. Carmel from SPC, and Mr. Vincent Johnson, former COGENT Coordinator, enriched the discussions with valuable insights.
The meeting concluded with the announcement that the next COGENT Steering Committee meeting will be conducted back-to-back with the 52nd COCOTECH conference in the Philippines.