Coconut diversity. Picture courtesy of Roland Bourdeix, CIRAD.

Coconut-producing countries lack both human and material resources to conduct expensive and time-consuming researches that could solve these problems. The world's research community has recognized that international support is essential if coconut is to be made more productive to benefit resource-poor coconut farmers. Genetic resources have been identified as the most urgent and strategic area to increase productivity and yield security.

COGENT's goal is to improve coconut production on a sustainable basis and increase incomes in developing countries through improved cultivation of the coconut and efficient utilization of its products. COGENT aims to develop and implement an international mechanism to coordinate research activities of national, regional and global significance, particularly in germplasm exploration, collecting, conservation and enhancement. It also aims to establish a basis for collaboration on the broader aspects of coconut research and development.

Objectives
The Network will function at the national, regional and global levels to strengthen the capacity of national programmes to conserve and utilize coconut genetic resources.
Specifically, COGENT will:

1. Establish and maintain an international database on existing and future collections;
2. Encourage the protection and use of existing germplasm collections;
3. Identify and secure additional threatened diversity by developing and adopting suitable technologies and conservation strategies;
4. Promote greater collaboration among research groups in producer countries and advanced technology sources in the exchange of germplasm and the development of new techniques; and
5. Conduct appropriate training, information dissemination and secure necessary funding for network activities.

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Current priorities and immediate concerns

1. Collecting, conserving, evaluating and enhancing coconut germplasm of member countries;
2. Locating and characterizing genetic diversity studies using morphometric and molecular biology techniques;
3. Conservation in national and regional field genebanks, in situ conservation and cryopreservation;
4. Developing and updating guidelines on coconut breeding research techniques and coconut collecting and conservation strategies;
5. Developing new initiatives for collaborative research on drought tolerance, disease resistance, cold tolerance and others;
6. Developing a globally coordinated molecular marker-assisted coconut breeding programme involving advanced laboratories and member countries;
7. Conducting multi-location trials in coconut-growing countries to identify productive and adapted varieties and hybrids based on yields and multipurpose uses under different production niches;
8. Collecting additional passport and characterization data, and disseminating the information to enhance the usefulness of the Coconut Genetic Resources Database (CGRD);
9. Developing a database on farmers’ varieties and multipurpose uses of the coconut;
10. Refining and fund sourcing for the coconut regional projects for the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Africa and the Indian Ocean sub-networks;
11. Promoting public awareness on activities geared toward sustainable development of the coconut and poverty alleviation among smallholders;
12. Conducting short-term courses on specific areas that require strengthening and long-term courses up to Master of Science level for human resource development; and
13. Providing technical assistance to enhance the research capability of member countries and their effective utilization of research results to benefit coconut farmers.

Network structure
Each country member is represented in COGENT by a national representative, chosen by the country concerned. Two regional coordinators from each of the five regional networks, namely: Southeast and East Asia, South Asia, South Pacific, Africa and the Indian Ocean and Latin America and the Caribbean, constitute the Steering Committee. The COGENT Coordinator is an ex-officio member and serves as the Secretary. The Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) is a non-voting member. The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee are elected for a 2-year term and must come from different regional networks. The members are also elected for a 2-year term. COGENT programme priorities and activities are decided by members of the Steering Committee, and reviewed by IPGRI to enhance complementation and effectiveness. The COGENT Coordinator coordinates the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of COGENT’s programme, projects and activities, and establishes linkages with IPGRI, collaborating institutions, programmes and donors.

Partners
COGENT has established collaborative linkages with partner research and development institutions working on coconut which presently include the Bureau for the Development of Research on Tropical Perennial Oil Crops (BUROTROP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), the Asian and Pacific Coconut Commission (APCC), Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Institut des Fôrets, Institute for Research through Development (ORSTOM), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Long Ashton Research Station (LARS) and research agencies in 35 member countries.

Funding
COGENT has received funding support from donors which include the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Department for International Development (DFID), the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), the French government, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Germany, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Bureau for the Development of Research on Tropical Perennial Oil Crops (BUROTROP). The donor agencies and partner institutions belong to the CGIAR Coconut Support Group, which was formed to foster international support for coconut research. The Group facilitates the financing of priority activities identified by the Steering Committee.

Membership
COGENT's 35 member countries are divided into five sub-networks: Southeast and East Asia (China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar); South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka); South Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu); Africa and the Indian Ocean (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles and Tanzania); and Latin America and the Caribbean (Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Haiti, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico and Trinidad-Tobago).

All coconut-producing countries are invited to join. At present, there is no membership fee. To apply for membership, an authorized government official should write to the Director General, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Via delle Sette Chiese 142, 00145 Rome, Italy. Tel: 39 6 51892202, Fax: 39 6 5750309; E-mail: ipgri@cgiat.org or to any member of the Steering Committee. In order to formally become a COGENT member, individual countries should:

1. Nominate a country representative from an organization that is engaged in coconut research and allow him/her to attend COGENT meetings as needed;
2. Support the cost of the representatives’ coconut research activities in the national programme;
3. Be willing to exchange and/or provide information on coconut genetic resources held in the country, particularly information on diseases of unknown etiology or pest recurrences;
4. Participate in the mutual exchange of coconut germplasm either for conservation or multilocation variety trials subject to mutual agreement with other member countries and with COGENT and IPGRI;
5. Participate actively in studying the diversity of coconut germplasm in the country, and conserve, protect and maintain the diversity at the country’s own expense, with possibilities for partial external support as components of COGENT-endorsed projects and activities.

Benefits

1. Access to germplasm information from other members. COGENT’s Coconut Genetic Resources Database (CGRD) contains the passport and characterization data of coconut collections of member countries. By accessing the database, breeders will be able to identify germplasm from a wide genetic base which could be used in breeding work;
2. Access to coconut germplasm. It is subject to mutual agreement and the ability to move material safely;
3. Access to new technologies;
4. Opportunities for coconut researchers to attend training courses, conferences and workshops organized by COGENT;
5. Opportunities to join collaborative research activities; and
6. Increased security of germplasm collections through collaborative conservation efforts.

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Women’s focus group discussing characteristics of coconut seedling during the Farmer Participatory Research Workshop in Bangladesh, December 9, 1998. Picture courtesy of Amanda King (IPGRI).