This tree's returns outperform VC funds. Why it is disappearing? | Matthew Ross | TEDxBoston

By TEDx Talks

Community Score: 50% | 324 views | 3w

0 community ratings: null thumbs up, null thumbs down

Well, money doesn't technically grow on trees, but wealth does. One coconut palm, planted in the ground for 60 years, produces 57 marketable products — from water and oil to biochar, rope, and carbon credits — at a 168% compound annual growth rate that outperforms most venture capital funds. The problem is that the trees and the farmers who tend them came of age at the same time, about 60 years ago, and both are now disappearing together. Coconut water that costs five dollars today could cost fifty in a decade if no action is taken. Not because of market forces, but because the source trees and the people who grow them are literally vanishing. Across 27 million hectares of tropical coastline, the opportunity to restore that system and build the wealthiest portfolios on Earth is still there. But the window is closing fast. Watch the talk to find out how. Matthew Ross is the founder of a tropical agroforestry enterprise working to restore and expand coconut farming across 27 million hect

Tags: Agriculture, Business, English, Farming, Finance, Investment, Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, TEDxTalks, [TEDxEID:65217]