Ahwoi upbeat about oil palm

Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Kwesi Ahwoi, says the country’s oil palm industry awaits effective entry into the downstream activities in a significant way to take advantage of the enormous opportunities to boost national revenue.

“The downstream activities are areas of greatest opportunity for value addition into oil palm industries, but currently they are the least developed in the country. This situation must be changed for the better.

“An estimated unmet demand for oil palm in ECOWAS sub-region is between 850,000 tonnes and 1,000,000 tonnes annually; a huge market which the country can take advantage of if properly managed.”

Currently, the country’s palm oil is exported mainly to neighbouring ECOWAS countries and the EU on a small scale. Edible palm oil and palm-based products are also imported into the country in significant qualities.

Mr. Ahwoi made this known in Accra at a presentation to identify prospects for the country’s oil palm, mentioning quality of produce, preservation and storage of food items, handling facilities and investment opportunities for local institutions and foreign direct inventors as the main critical challenges militating against the oil palm production sector.

He observed that the major players in the industry show that the oil palm value-chain in the country is complex and must be well organised and coordinated to reap optimum benefits from the industry.

“Should Ghana’s oil palm industry concentrate on the formation of a strong national oil palm association that will represent the interests of all groups within the value-chain? The challenge is how to reconcile the greater interests of the oil palm industry with the limited interest of groups within the value-chain,” Mr. Ahwoi remarked.

Stakeholders made up of industry experts, operators, consultants, exporters and government officials have made a strong proposal for the establishment of an independent apex body to oversee the growth of the industry.

This was made at the first national oil palm stakeholder workshop intended to help come out with a master-plan that would guide development of the sector.

Oil palm is the fifth-largest crop in Ghana in terms of area planted after cocoa, maize, cassava and yam. Of the three major tree-crops in the country, in terms of total crop value, oil palm lags far behind cocoa but is ahead of rubber.

The total area under oil palm in the country is currently some 300,000 hectares.

The country’s first international commercial trade in oil palm took place in 1820. Starting from wild harvesting, oil palm evolved into an agricultural crop and plantations were established by 1850. This led to oil palm becoming the principal export of the Gold Coast.

In the 1880s, oil palm accounted for 75 percent of the country’s export revenue until it was overtaken by cocoa exports in 1911.
Supply of CPO in 2009 (percentages)