Artisanal and small-scale palm oil producers occupy a greater share of Ghana’s palm oil processing industry, producing 60–80% of the country’s palm oil. However, the current processing systems used by the palm oil producers are mainly the traditional metal cooking pots and steel tanks.
Is Ghana a sustainable palm oil producer?
Indeed, if we consider that palm oil production in Ghana is already largely “deforestation free,” and that the majority of oil palm production in Ghana is carried out by smallholder farmers (60%+) ( Osei-Amponsah et al., 2012 ), it would seem Ghana is already performing relatively well according to international definitions of sustainable palm oil.
How to intensify oil palm production in Ghana?
Increasing fruit supply by organizing the expanding smallholder sector and implementing yield intensification strategies (BMPs) on existing plantings is largely an unexploited potential for the sustainable intensification of oil palm production in Ghana, and is essential to move the industry forward in a sustainable manner.
How many palm oil mills are there in Ghana?
Available data shows that there were more than 1200 small-scale mills in Ghana [ 11] producing 60–80% of the national palm oil production [ 2, 15 ]. By 2015, the small-scale industry was employing over 2 million people [ 4] mostly in rural areas. 2. The problem and contribution of the chapter