Galamsey activities are contributing to shortfalls and deficits in domestic palm oil production. In fact, the Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana (OPDAG) is projecting that if care is not taken there will soon be a rise in imports of palm oil.
However, the Association’s president, Samuel Avaala, is not certain about the full extent of damage galamsey has caused to oil palm plantations across the country – although preliminary data available to the association indicate the impact is both negative and enormous.
If care is not taken to remedy this situation, it may further deepen the country’s deficit in palm oil production and cultivation – protracting and deepening Ghana’s status as a net importer of the commodity.
Already, data from OPDAG suggest Ghana imported some US$1.17billion worth of palm oil between 2019 and 2021, with imports still rising to date. Isn’t it ironic that although it has potential to become a net exporter, the country remains a net importer – as it shipped-in 1.17 million metric tonnes of palm oil from 2019 to 2021 while producing about 850,000 tonnes within the same period.
Lack of best practices in production and milling is causing the state to lose millions in export revenue of the commodity. Challenges faced by the oil palm and palm oil production sector are already dire… and illegal mining destroying farms and rendering farmers jobless has exacerbated the situation.
In Ghana, oil palm is the second most important tree-crop after cocoa, with a total 360,000 hectares of land under cultivation – 80 percent of which are in the hands of smallholders. That is why the situation demands urgent attention.
The average yield for oil palm farms in the country is four tonnes of fresh fruit per hectare per annum, representing 25 percent of potential production. Experts believe this is very low and attributable to poor agronomy and limited knowledge on best management practices for oil palm cultivation.
Currently, Ghana imports over 100,000 metric tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) annually to close the huge domestic demand gap.
Substantial improvement in the oil palm sector requires a combination of measures: such as upgrading agronomic and management practices on the farms and enhancing the equipment and operations of small- and mid-sized mills among others.
