Sometimes the fruits of success taste particularly sweet, as Global Environment Facility CEO Carlos Manuel Rodriguez discovered on a visit to the Maldivian island of Meedhoo, where he witnessed an effort led by local women to revive a dying culinary art.
With the help of funding from the GEF, the non-governmental organization Meedhoo Ekuveringe Cheynu (MEC) has been working to replant coconut palm groves and to teach the island’s young people how to prepare local palm sugar delicacy Addu Bondi the authentic way.
“This GEF Small Grants Programme project is not only investing in preserving the rich tradition of Bondi-making in the Maldives but, more importantly, in its future generations,” said Rodriguez, who later visited two waste-related projects elsewhere in the Addu Atoll, the southernmost atoll in the archipelago nation. “It is helping young girls and boys educate – and provide a source of income for – their communities.”
Addu Bondi is a confection traditionally made from the shavings of baby coconuts mixed with coconut palm sugar, or “toddy.” The mixture is then heated, moulded into cylinders, and wrapped in dried banana leaves. Bondi is one of the best-known “short eats” – or small plates – in the archipelago nation.
But with increasing numbers of Meedhoo’s young moving to the Maldivian capital Malé for school and work in recent years, the island now faces a shortage of trained toddy tappers, who nimbly scale coconut palms to pluck the blossoms used to produce the sweet juice.
Photo credit: Malvika Monga/GEF
This shortage, coupled with a fall in the population of healthy coconut palms available for toddy tapping, has pushed the price of coconut palm sugar beyond the reach of many Bondi makers, forcing them to substitute lower-cost refined sugar.
The result? Most of the Bondi sold in the Maldives now is a poor imitation of the original and the knowledge and skill needed to make the authentic version is vanishing.
MEC’s project was designed to counter this trend, by restoring two hectares of coconut palm groves and raising awareness of this important tradition among young residents, especially women and girls.
The initiative will deliver both economic and environmental benefits. By restoring lost coconut groves, it will help preserve the island’s biodiversity while at the same time promoting economic resilience by offering women and girls a chance to earn money from the sale of authentic Addu Bondi and other coconut-based handicrafts popular with tourists.
Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the project has progressed smoothly and is now in its final stages.
This is the third GEF SGP-backed project for MEC, a 196-member organization founded in 2010 and run by women. The previous two promoted the integration of fruit trees into farming systems. The latest plays into that expertise since – despite their nutty name – coconuts belong to a category of fruit called drupes, which protect their seeds with a hard outer shell.