EXPERTS SEEK INCREASED INVESTMENT TO HALT OIL PALM IMPORTATION

Agriculture experts have called for more investment in oil palm production to enhance the growth and development of the sector. They said this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Lagos.

They experts spoke against the backdrop of report published last week that Nigeria imported N299.6 billion of palm oil from 2017 to 2022. The publication which relied on quarterly reports by the National Bureau of Statistics indicates that ‘Palm Crude Oil’ is often among the top five imported agricultural products into the country.

Prof. Adetunji Iyiola, a fellow at the National Agriculture and Extension Research Liaison Service, described the importation of oil palm by an agrarian country like Nigeria, as an anomaly. Iyiola said experts need to develop new strategies to boost local oil palm production in the country. “The strategy to boost the oil palm sector is to go back to the basics.” “What we need is to make a new habit of investing in oil palm production in Nigeria. It is a very lucrative business. “We should also invest more in the local processing of oil palm. “Within the space of four to five years, an investment in oil palm would have begun yielding returns; therefore, we need to go back to the basics. “We have money bags that should invest in the sector, we should see cultivating oil palm as a long-term investment and should include the entire value chain from production, to processing and export. “We should not import palm oil as a nation, we have a very fertile land for oil palm production from Benin to Osun to Ondo we have good palm that can grow well,” Iyiola told NAN.

According to him, oil palm can be grown and sustained in all the South-South states of the country. He called on the government to invest in agriculture extension especially in oil palm cultivation. “The farmers need to be equipped with information on oil cultivation to boost local production.”

“Government should also aid the local processing of oil palm, the entire value chain should be boosted for the funds we waste in palm oil importation to be invested back into the economy,’’ he said.

On his part, Mr Akin Alabi, co-founder Corporate Farmers International, said extra effort must be done in the production, processing and marketing of the produce. Alabi said that the country needs to tackle the issues around production and processing of the commodity to grow the sector. “In terms of production, we do not have premium seeds. Our research institutes need to work hard in the development of premium seeds around the entire oil palm value chain. “The seeds we have currently are not the standard seeds we require to boost the sector’s production locally compared to other countries such as Malaysia and other Asian countries. “Also, we have another problem in terms of production we do not have enough oil palm producers. “We have clusters of oil palm producers in the South-East, South-South and South-West. “We need oil palm producers in large scale to produce palm oil because our land is fertile enough for the produce,” he said.

He noted that Nigeria was yet to tap into the entire value chain of oil palm production. “Another issue is the local processing of oil palm. As a country, we have not properly tapped into the entire value chain of oil palm production. “We still rely on local production methods for our domestic consumption. “We must go beyond oil palm production for consumption to industrial use. “When we can get this right then we will be able to expand wealth creation across the oil palm value chain,” Alabi said.

15.00 - 16.00

Tackling EU's Negative Stance Towards the Palm

Dewan Minyak Sawit Indonesia (DMSI)

Indonesian Palm Oil Board (IPOB)

Indonesia's Aggressive Push in Biodiesel, What It Means for the Palm Oil Industry?

Promotion

Communication

KEMENTERIAN PERTANIAN Direktorat Jenderal Perkebunan Director General of Estate Crops

Asosisasi Produsen Biofuel Indonesia (APROBI)

Indonesia Biofuel Producer Association

* Please note this is a tentative agenda and is subjected to changes*

Dewan Minyak Sawit Menyambut Honduras sebagai Anggota Ketiga

Palm Oil Council Welcomes Honduras as the Third Member

Kuala Lumpur - Dewan Negara-Negara Penghasil Minyak Sawit (CPOPC) menyambut keanggotaan negara ketiga yang mewakili wilayah Amerika Selatan, yaitu Honduras. “Ini adalah sejarah, jumlah anggota CPOPC telah meningkat,” kata Menteri Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian Indonesia, Airlangga Hartarto, dalam konferensi pers setelah Pertemuan Menteri CPOPC ke-11 di Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pada hari Rabu, 17 Mei 2023. Di masa depan, tambahnya, Papua Nugini akan menjadi anggota baru.

Sebelumnya, anggota negara CPOPC yang dipimpin oleh Malaysia tahun ini hanya Indonesia dan Malaysia. Namun, perwakilan dari negara-negara lain sering menghadiri banyak pertemuan sebelumnya, seperti pertemuan terakhir di Kuala Lumpur pada 17 Mei yang dihadiri oleh perwakilan dari Ghana, Papua Nugini, dan Nigeria, baik sebagai pengamat maupun tamu.

Keanggotaan Honduras sebagai anggota baru akan lebih memperkuat kerja sama di antara negara-negara penghasil minyak sawit. “Pengembangan ini akan membuka jalan bagi negara-negara penghasil minyak sawit lainnya untuk bergabung dengan CPOPC dan memanfaatkannya sebagai platform strategis dalam meningkatkan upaya untuk mencapai tujuan keberlanjutan,” seperti dikutip dari pernyataan tertulis CPOPC. Dalam pertemuan tersebut, Menteri Airlangga Hartarto, Menteri Perkebunan dan Komoditas Malaysia yang juga

Wakil Perdana Menteri Malaysia, dan Menteri Pertanian dan Peternakan Honduras menekankan pentingnya memperkuat peran strategis CPOPC dalam menyediakan kolaborasi dan upaya yang terpadu di antara para produsen minyak sawit.

Airlangga Hartarto berbagi optimisme bahwa produksi, permintaan, dan harga minyak sawit akan tumbuh tahun ini meskipun ada tantangan dalam industri ini. “Kami pasti melihat tantangan terhadap produk CPOPC di Eropa, India, dan banyak negara lain,” katanya.

Pada akhir tahun lalu, Uni Eropa mengeluarkan Regulasi

Produk Bebas Deforestasi yang sangat berdampak pada industri minyak sawit. Mereka juga merumuskan aturan-aturan yang akan mempengaruhi industri minyak sawit, seperti regulasi tentang tenaga kerja paksa, direktif klaim hijau, dan direktif energi terbarukan ketiga. Oleh karena itu, Indonesia dan Malaysia berencana mengunjungi markas besar Uni Eropa di Brussels pada 30-31 Mei 2023.

Kuala Lumpur - The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) welcomed the third country member that represents the South American region, Honduras. “This is historic, [the number of] CPOPC members has increased,” said the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, in a press conference after the 11th CPOPC Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. In the near future, he added, Papua New Guinea will be a new member.

Previously, the country members of the CPOPC that is chaired by Malaysia this year were only Indonesia and Malaysia. But representatives from other countries often attended many previous meetings, such as the recent meeting in Kuala Lumpur on May 17, which was attended by representatives from Ghana, Papua New Guinea, and Nigeria, both as observers and guests.

Honduras enrollment as a new member will further strengthen the cooperation among palm oil-producing countries. “This development will pave the way for other palm oil producing countries to join CPOPC and leverage it as a strategic platform in enhancing efforts to accelerate the attainment of sustainability goals,” as quoted from CPOP’s written statement. In the meeting, Minister Airlangga Hartarto, Malaysia’s Minister of Plantation and Commodities - who is also the Deputy PM of Malaysia, and Honduras Minister of Agriculture and Livestock underlined the importance of strengthening the strategic roles of CPOPC in providing collaboration and consolidated efforts among the palm oil producers.

Airlagga Hartarto shared his optimism that the production, demand, and prices of palm oil will grow this year despite the challenges in the industry. “We definitely see challenges against CPOPC products in Europe, India, and many other countries,” he said.

At the end of last year, The European Union issued the Deforestation-Free Products Regulation that highly impacted the palm oil industry. They are also formulating rules that will affect the palm oil industry, such as the regulation on forced labor, the green claim directive, and the third renewable energy directive. Therefore, Indonesia and Malaysia plan to make a visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 3031, 2023.