ibironkeeniola 
The climate, soil type, and manpower in Kogi State favour oil palm farming, especially in the Igala-speaking area of the Eastern Senatorial district. The government knew this and so since 1973, projects after projects were inaugurated to boost oil palm farming. But none succeeded until a solution-oriented civil society organisation, CSO, arrived with a model that placed the smallholder farmers at its core. James Audu, one of the benefitting smallholder oil palm farmers in Ofante, Dekina Local Government Area, has not only improved yield, but also invested in the whole value chain— oil palm milling, cassava milling, and livestock farming.
In 2019, the CSO, Solidaridad West Africa, targeted three local government areas of Ofu, Igalamela and Dekina, covering 45 communities with its National Initiatives for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Oil Palm Smallholders (NISCOPS), in partnership with IDH and funded by the government of the Netherlands. Under the scheme, Audu and other smallholder farmers like him, numbering 90 gets training and support that increased their Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB), helped them adopt Best Management Practices (BMP) and Climate Smart Production (CSA) approaches. The project, which will run for five years, is in its second year.
However, the years of failed attempts at turning Kogi into a state justifiably recognised for oil palm plantation makes the current revolution phenomenal. It began in 1973, the defunct Kwara state. Government, NGO, and private intervention in Kogi In 1973, the defunct Kwara state where part of Kogi State was carved out, planted 6000 seedlings of oil palm plantation in Aloma, in today Ofu council area of Kogi State. The Aloma oil palm fields stretch close to 10,000 hectares of land. This development brought massive interest in the area as palm oil production boomed in the land, and other part of the zone where it ‘naturally’ thrived. But successive governments’ efforts failed to yield positive response. While the government of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris in 2009 reached an agreement with Malaysian government to bring in new improved varieties to replace the worn out seedling planted in 1973. Nothing visible came out of the arrangement except a visit by representative of the Malaysian government to the Aloma oil palm site in 2010.
Subsequently, the Aloma plantation had worn out and the species used had become obsolete. Alhaji Ibrahim Idris’s successor, Captain Idris Wada also took steps towards encouraging oil palm production. His effort did not yield positive interest aside from the mere allocation of land before he lost the election in 2019. A private investor has also shown interest by making arrangements with state workers to access loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN for an oil palm plantation. The agreement is for the loan to be deducted from the beneficiary’s workers’ salary within five years giving 2 years monetarium. The workers were made to pay N2000 for the processing fee. Land was said to be available in Dekina area of the state for the plantation. The situation dragged too long and when it was obvious the arrangement was mere lip service, the organized labour in 2021 was left with no option than to pull out of the arrangement. Before now Audu used to experience the poor quality products. He was piqued with poor harvesting and processing methods largely due to the fact that the oil palm seedlings are already worn out and of low-quality yield. For many years, James Audu’s hope of becoming self-sufficient in domestic palm oil supply remained unattainable, despite various efforts made to revive and boost his palm farms. But that has changed. As one of the beneficiaries of the Solidaridad program, James said he has also learned how to harness other opportunities that goes with oil palm plantation. “After two years of practicing Best Management Practices, (BMP) I discovered the oil palm farm has become so clean and other activities can be done. I appreciated Solidaridad for the capacity building which enabled me to see more opportunities beyond the oil palm farm. “I invested in the oil palm mills, the cassava mill, and livestock which are my alternatives source of income.” The Solidaridad project is to increase farmers’ knowledge of BMP and CSA. 90 groups have been formed where members contribute and collect loans effortlessly. The Kogi Enterprise Development Agency through the CSOs is also sponsoring the registration of 30 farmer groups (10 per LGA). The CSO said it’s investing 36000 seedlings across four states in Nigeria; 9,500 of the seedlings are for Kogi state. In spite of these interventions, there is still a wide gap to fill in terms of oil palm plantation in the state, especially in the zone that has a high comparative advantage to grow the crop. The United Nations Food and Agriculture program is encouraging small farmers across Africa to grow palm oil because the crop offers opportunities to improve livelihoods and incomes for the poor. Palm is a valuable economic crop and provides a source of employment. It allows small landholders to participate in the cash economy and often results in improvements to local infrastructure and greater access to services such as schools and health facilities. In some areas, the cultivation of oil palm has replaced traditional practices, often due to the higher income potential of palm oil. Palm oil is locally used as cooking oil, exported for use in many commercial foods and personal care products, and is converted into biofuel. It produces up to 10 times more oil per unit area than soybeans, rapeseed, or sunflowers. Oil palms produce is said to account for 38% of the world’s vegetable oil output on 5% of the world’s vegetable oil farmland. But as valuable as Palm oil products are, the crop has become a source of concern and under increasing scrutiny for their effects on the environment, including loss of carbon-sequestering, biodiverse forest land. There is also concern over displacement and disruption of human and animal populations due to palm oil cultivation. This concern has grown rapidly for agriculturists and environmental scientists requesting that only sustainable Oil palm should be allowed for plantation. Agricultural experts are however calling for concerted effort to ensure that oil palm plantation must be one with environmental sustainability. Friday Ogezi, an Agriculture expert in Lokoja, said only 17.4% of palm oil fruit produced globally in 2016 complied with voluntary sustainability standards such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, Rainforest Alliance, and organic. He said the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), founded in 2004, works to promote the production of sustainably sourced palm oil through involvement with growers, processors, food companies, investors, and NGOs. He urged that any interventions in that regard in Kogi State must be oil palm that meets RSPO introduced standards, which are the “certified sustainable palm oil” (CSPO). In replacing the worn our seedling with a new improved seedling, local people must be carried along, “The idea is that you must use local people to plant palm oil on their land. You must let them know that they have an obligation to measure and reduce climate change emissions. They must also be informed that there is a prohibition on the use of fire to clear land; because palm oil needs to be produced more sustainably by avoiding deforestation and cutting non-food palm oil use.”, Friday said. Involving local communities in ecosystem service research can improve the relevance, quality, and, ultimately, the outcomes of natural resource management. Local engagement can also contribute solutions to ecosystem management challenges by diversifying the range of options and contextualizing their applicability. The benefits to local communities of ecosystem service-based policies relative to other interventions, such as oil palm development, are, therefore, best understood from the perspectives of the local communities themselves. Mr Kene Onukwube, Project Manager of National Initiatives for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Oil Palm Smallholders (NISCOPS) said it was expected that the Civil Society Organization, CSOs will become more vibrant to take up issues of social and or legislative advocacy towards sustainable oil palm production. He said efforts must be made to help communities on how to process the challenges of social inclusion with policymakers and the legislature and as well, engage with private sector actors in the states for fundraising opportunities for sustainable oil palm production. The challenges associated with oil palm production in Kogi State are many, amongst which are: Poor road conditions to local communities, Lack of access to credit and market, Low level of technical know-how by farmers, Low crop yield (due to obsolete species planted), Biases against women ownership of productive assets, as well as low literacy level of farmers.
Oil palm production is a profitable venture which must be encouraged and at the same time, it is capital intensive. The current lackadaisical attitude by the three tiers of government towards oil palm production cannot lead to the desired transformation in the oil palm industry. The government must be seen to be actively involved in the procurement and distribution of essential resources such as seedlings, fertilizers and assist the farmers financially to cut down costs. Proper packaging and storage of extracted oil to slow down deterioration becomes relevant because improper storage has led to sales of palm oil with foul odour in the market thereby lowering the price. The government could encourage the transformation of the oil palm industry through subsidies and other incentives such as the acquisition of land and clearing for plantation production, assist oil palm farmers to use fertilizer for their production. Oil palm farmers should be encouraged to cut down and replace their oil palm trees which are thirty-five (35) years old; this will help to increase productivity and output of the crop.
There is also a growing persuasion that government must get involved in the oil palm production expecially in enacting protectionist legislation against the products of deforestation. The state government must come to a quick realization that the oil palm plantation in Aloma and its environ has outlived its usefulness. With 35 years the average life span of oil palm, the Kogi state oil palm planted in 1973 is already 8 years above its useful age; necessitating the need for the state government to revisit her arrangement with the Malaysian government in replacing the oil palm with modernized and environmentally friendly species. The state government must also seek partnership with organization such as Solidaridad that have kick-started such a project. The Federal government can also key into the scheme, which if properly carried out can help in achieving the SDG agenda of reducing poverty and increasing food production in the state. Until these problems are tackled, the possibility of harnessing the potentials the state holds in the sector may be a mirage inspect of its comparative advantage in the oil palm sector. Concerted efforts must be made beyond the rhetorics of politics to ensure a sustainable community and environmental protection through the replacement and plantation of oil palm.
SOURCE: VANGUARD