-Edo State Oil Palm Investors Engage Communities in Sustainable Production Practices
In a bid to promote sustainable oil palm production, investors in Edo State have embarked on a community outreach and engagement program (COEP) to educate stakeholders on best practices. The program, aimed at ensuring an equitable playing field for all stakeholders in the palm oil industry, focuses on three impact goals: prosperity, people, and planet.
Under the COEP, over 80 smallholder oil palm farmers, community leaders, youth, women, and community-based organizations (CBOs) were trained on the principles and criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
The training, held in six oil palm-producing local government areas, including Ikpoba Okha, Ovia South-West, Ovia North-East, Uhunmwonde, Owan West, and Orhionmwon, aimed to raise awareness on sustainable palm oil production and the obligations of communities and companies involved.
According to Fatai Afolabi, Managing Consultant and CEO of Foremost Development Services Limited, “The COEP is designed to engage stakeholders at all levels of society within palm oil-producing countries. We want to ensure that sustainable palm oil production becomes the norm, and Edo State, being the major producer of sustainable palm oil in Nigeria, is a natural choice for this program.”
Afolabi added that the Edo State Government has also subscribed to the production of sustainable palm oil through the application of RSPO standards, and has mandated investors to do the same through the Edo State Oil Palm Programme (ESOPP).
The training, which was held in Madagbayo, Gbelebu, Udo, and Maroghionba (AT&P) communities in Ovia South-West local government area, aimed to educate participants on the standards to adopt for sustainable palm oil production.
“We want to ensure that communities and companies producing sustainable palm oil are aware of their rights, livelihoods, social and environmental management, and protection of communities and employees,” Afolabi said.
With this program, RSPO aims to make sustainable palm oil the norm, and Edo State is leading the way. By engaging communities and promoting sustainable practices, the state is poised to achieve a palm oil sector that is sustainable and prosperous for all.
