Most of the coconut oil produced in the early years of the coconut industry in Seychelles was prepared using the ox-driven copra mill, locally known as moulin kopra.
A brief Historical background to our coconut oil industry
It was as long ago as 1790, when Louis Jean-Baptiste Philogene de Malavois (1748-1827) was the commandant of the Seychelles, that the commercial importance of coconuts began to be exploited. Small quantities of oil were made for local consumption. With the abolition of slavery in 1835 and without slaves, the labour-intensive sugar industry, which was, until then, the main export from the Seychelles, could not be sustained. This was because the former slaves were not prepared to continue heavy labour for low wages.
The plantations owners consequently switched to the less labour-intensive farming of coconuts; these became the islands dominant crop and source of export earnings from the 1840s onwards and by the 1860s coconut oil was virtually the only export. In 1840, 300,000 litres of coconut oil were exported to Mauritius. In 1880, 18,993 hectoliters of coconut oil were exported. By then, the landowners, who were mostly descendants of the French Settlers, had established vast coconut estates on their properties. Between 1894 and 1904, 141,355 hectoliters of oil were exported.
LEARN MORE
If you want to explore this topic further and learn more about the culture and traditions of these small gems in the middle of the Indian Ocean, click here or on the book cover below. This will link you to our newly published book, which takes you on a journey that is “unique by a thousand miles.” It provides historical context for some of our cultural practices, deepening your appreciation of the Seychelles and hopefully inspiring you to visit, explore, and engage in these activities.
Get your copy and let us begin our journey into the rich and fascinating world of the Seychellois Creole heritage. Open these pages and begin the journey through the coconut groves, the plantations, the workshops and the paths that once linked village to village. Discover the skills, customs and stories that helped shape the Seychellois people.
We will climb coconut palms to tap toddy, discover how baka is made, follow the work of picking and husking coconuts, and learn how copra was produced, among other things. These were not merely occupations; they were part of the rhythm of life in the islands, passed from one generation to another.
Some of these traditions have survived and continue, at least in part, to this day. Others have gradually disappeared, becoming memories of an older Seychelles. Guano mining, the production of karot taba, and the cultivation of patchouli increasingly belong to that vanished world, a world worth remembering before its stories fade completely.
Click here or on the book cover to start your journey into the Seychellois Creole World.
