Farmers, others offer solutions to oil palm challenges

Although palm oil is produced in 25 states in Nigeria, the oil palm sub-sector has plunged from its top export commodity income earner in the 1960s to its current pathetic state. Available statistics indicate that the country spends over $US500million on importation of oil and its derivatives annually, limiting her potentials, as wells as going […]

Although palm oil is produced in 25 states in Nigeria, the oil palm sub-sector has plunged from its top export commodity income earner in the 1960s to its current pathetic state.

Available statistics indicate that the country spends over $US500million on importation of oil and its derivatives annually, limiting her potentials, as wells as going down as the 5th producer of palm oil in the world.

Recently, stakeholders from the Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), Department of Climate Change, Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet), during a two-day workshop and policy dialogue organised by the Solidaridad Network, West Africa, Nigeria, identified the various challenges facing the subsector and highlighted possible solutions to reposition the subsector.

They said, “Research has not been given adequate attention due to poor funding of the NIFOR, which has the mandate for oil palm research to enable the sub-sector contribute its quota to Nigeria’s economic diversification drive, as well as job creation.”

Some of them identified the absence of inclusive budgeting, and the delay in the release of funds as what affects project delivery and impact with long term negative implications for the oil palm sub-sector.

Dr Samson Ogalla, a senior climate specialist – Africa country technical lead, Nigeria, who made a presentation on Climate Smart Agriculture Principles: Implications for Oil Palm Development Policies in Nigeria, also identified lack of climate smart policies for the oil palm subsector.

The president of the Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria, Mr Joe Onyiuke, is particularly worried that the smallholder oil palm farmers have not been given adequate attention to increased productivity in a climate-resilient way. He added that the contractual arrangement between big oil palm companies and smallholder farmers had continued to be exploitative and hadn’t yielded adequate and sustainable benefits for smallholder farmers.

In a joint communiqué, the stakeholders also appealed to the government to deliberately dedicate a minimum of 60 per cent of the agriculture budget (oil palm) to capital projects to encourage diversification of the economy, including a dedicated oil palm development fund. Government should, therefore, use 20 per cent of the 35 per cent tariff on importation of fats and oil to improve productivity in the oil palm sector.

“Government and the private sector should promote research-farmers linkages through increased funding to the NIFOR and other research institutions.

Federal and state governments should review the out-grower or contract farmer business model between big oil palm companies and smallholder farmers to eradicate exploitation and promote sustainable benefits to smallholder oil palm farmers.

Government, development partners and the private sector should provide support for extension services, and digitisation of the sector for enhanced performance and contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” part of the communiqué reads.