Palm Oil Industry Needs A Bit More Attention-Paul Amaning
President of the Artisanal Palm Oil Millers and Outgrowers Association of Ghana, Mr.Paul-Kwabena-Amaning,has said the oil palm industry is a tropical perennial crop native to Africa with excellent benefits. Per hectare, it is the most productive oil crop in the world, being 10 times more productive than soybean and other oil bearing seeds. Of the 17 major vegetable oils traded on the international market, palm oil is the most important and accounts for more than half of global import and export trade.
He further stressed that, Oil palm plantations on the other hand are as effective as rain forests in reducing carbon dioxide, a critical contributor to global warming hence an oil palm plantation ensures better climatic conditions and in addition provides more employment than forest. The World Bank explains it provides more jobs per hectare than other large scale farming (employing about 1 person per acre), and the jobs are year-round rather than seasonal. These features of the crop are being harnessed on large and efficient scale by countries in the Asian tropics (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, etc) reflected by their lead roles in oil palm products like the crude palm oil (CPO).
However, since the cultivation of Oil palm in Africa, the share of Africa in global commercial palm oil production has not fared well. West Africa dominates palm oil production in Africa but currently production is insufficient to cater for the growing domestic demand in Africa and most African countries are net importers of palm oil.
Nevertheless, Paul Amanining said ,”today palm oil, which comes from oil palm trees, feeds more than three billion people worldwide in more than 150 countries. Its increased consumption is attributed to its high versatility.
It can be found in more than 40% of packaged products in an average supermarket, including edible items such as cooking oils, margarine, mayonnaise, ice cream, cookies, and chocolates; and non-edible items such as soaps, detergents, and cosmetics.”
“Palm oil is also used as an emollient in both the metal and leather industries as well as palm kernel meal is used as fertilizer and livestock feed. More recently, in response to growing global demand for renewable energy, biodiesel manufacturing now also uses palm oil,”Paul Amanining exclusively told Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7
He reiterated that Palm oil is an important part of our lives; hence the time has come to rejuvenate our muscles and ideas to get back to the fields tilling the lands to produce the right product beneficial to our health.
Source: Richard Obeng Bediako
