Maria Marcelina had spent her whole life surrounded by coconut trees in Baucau, watching their husks get burned or thrown away as worthless waste. That changed in April 2026, when she and 24 other women walked into the CDC Baucau Training Centre ready to learn something that would transform how their community saw a resource they'd overlooked their entire lives.
For five days, from April 7 to 16, the women learned to turn coconut fibre into bags, hats, rags, and fashion and home accessories. The training was organized by Associação Empresarial das Mulheres em Timor-Leste (AEMTL) as part of the Agroforestry Skills Programme, implemented by the ILO and funded by the European Union. What made the difference wasn't just the technical knowledge — it was the permission to see waste as possibility.
Maria's response tells the story best. She posted photos of the products on Facebook and the inquiries started flowing in almost immediately. People wanted to know where to buy. People wanted to know how to attend the training themselves. The products were already attracting customers at the local market. For Maria, who left her job as a bank teller two years ago to focus on growing and selling plants, the circular economy approach resonated deeply. "My background in biology made me see waste differently," she explained, "not as something to throw away, but as something with potential." She registered for the programme's business competition, carrying forward not just skills but a clear vision.
Terezinha da Silva Guterres came to the training from a different starting point but arrived at similar ground. Young and ambitious, she had only ever known coconuts as a source of food and cooking fuel. The training opened her eyes to the full range of products coconut waste could become — products that were both environmentally friendly and a genuine path to household income. What surprised her as much as the possibility was discovering her own capability. "I already have the practical knowledge and skills for this," she said. "I don't want it to go to waste. I have a vision for a business with this product. I'm still young and still have the spirit to continue." She too entered the business competition, ready to move forward.
The individual stories point to something larger taking shape across Timor-Leste. By the end of the programme, 420 women are planned to complete training, gaining not only technical production skills but also knowledge in product design, marketing, business management, and access to buyers and equipment. At the centre of the market strategy sits "Brand Timor," a unified identity being developed to position Timorese coconut products, alongside cocoa and vanilla, as premium, authentic, and sustainable goods for local consumers, tourists, and the wider ASEAN market.
What started as waste in Baucau is becoming business. What started as invisible potential is becoming visible income for families and communities. The coconut husks that once lay discarded are now raw material for something people want to buy — and for women in eastern Timor-Leste, that shift changes everything.