[ 2016-09-07 ]

Cabinet approves Oil Palm Development Board
Cabinet has approved the establishment of an Oil
Palm Development Board after years of agitations
from players in that industry.

The board, according to the Deputy Minister of
Food and Agriculture, Dr. Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan is
expected to promote, regulate and position the
country to realize the needed investment and
growth of the crop.

Speaking to Citi Business News at the sidelines of
the Africa Sustainable Palm Oil forum in Accra,
Dr. Alhassan was optimistic the board will help
increase Ghana’s production of palm oil.

“Last week cabinet finally approved the
formation of the oil palm development board and
what is left now is for the ministry to engage key
stakeholders particularly the Ministry of Trade
and Industry and the AG’s department to put
together a legal instrument (LI),” he said.

“We live in a constitutional environment and so
the creation of such boards must follow due
process. This comes after the stake holders had
made some submissions to government,” he added.

He was of the view that the development of oil
palm could be done in a more sustainable manner to
help reduce its negative impact on the
environment.

Dr. Alhassan argued that the board when fully
operational will create a platform to formalize
interaction between government and the private
sector.

Previous calls on government

Many stakeholders have over the years called on
government to channel some investments into the
oil and palm industry.

Ghana’s palm oil sector currently employs over
300,000 people.

Oil Palm is known to have originated in Africa.
Its cultivation has hitherto been on a small scale
– primarily as village low-yield multi-crop
stands.

Currently, information available indicates that
Palm Oil smallholders account for 70 Per cent –
90 percent of oil palm producers in Africa.

Nine countries are currently engaged in the Africa
Palm Oil Initiative, at different stages in the
process.

The countries include Ghana, Cameroon, Cote
D’Ivoire, Gabon, Liberia and Nigeria are engaged
in the Initiative.

Other producer countries are expected to join this
first regional workshop, including the Democratic
Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and
Sierra Leone.

Source - citibsinessnews.com

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