Coconut, Tropical Fruit, Spice and Fish By-Product Plants for Seychelles

Seychelles is made up of two main groups of islands in the western Indian Ocean, and most of its people live on the main island of Mahé. The inner islands are rocky and mountainous, and the outer islands are low-lying. The economy relies on tourism and fisheries, and the fishing sector, which includes industrial tuna fishing and artisanal catches, produces by-products that can be processed further. The small cultivated area is used mainly for coconuts, cinnamon and tea, with fruit and vegetables of secondary importance.

These materials suggest a practical set of plants. Coconut can be dried to copra and pressed, or processed wet into milk and oil. Tropical fruit can go into juice or concentrate or be dried, and spices such as cinnamon bark benefit from controlled drying. Fish heads, bones and trimmings can be cooked and pressed to recover oil and meal. Where space and volumes are limited, the aim is typically to use what is already harvested or landed more fully, rather than to build very large capacity.

Likely users include small food and beverage producers, hotels and tourism suppliers that make their own ingredients, and fisheries-linked businesses. Where the air is humid, drying equipment needs to deal with damp air, and equipment for an island country arrives by sea, which affects how projects are planned and phased.