a écrit le 11 octobre 2007 à 21h55 QCameroon: Oil palm plantations fostered by new biofuel market harm local livelihoods
In Cameroon, like in other African countries such as Ivory Coast or Ghana, the production of oil palm is distributed in 3 sectors: an agro-industrial sector, a village sector controlled by agro-industries, and a small-scale traditional sector.
Table 1. Area and production of oil palm plantations in Cameroon in 2002.
Surface (ha)
Raw production of oil palm (tons)
Agro-industrial plantations
60,000
105,000
“Supervised†village plantations
14,000
Small-scale traditional plantations
24,000
35,000
Source: Monfort (2005).
Even though Indonesia and Malaysia hold a strong leadership position in the oil palm global market, the agro-industrial sector in Cameroon can rely on several advantages.
In the first place, the industrial plantation of oil palms has largely benefited from governmental programmes and from international capital. The intensive culture of oil palm – a plant traditionally used by local populations – begins under the German colonization and is further developed by the French and the British with the creation of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) and of Pamol Plantations.
In 1963, the government starts a first large programme aimed at developing the plantation of oil palms, notably with the creation of SOCAPALM in the Kribi region. In 2001, the Ministry of Agriculture launched an ‘oil palm projec
In Cameroon, like in other African countries such as Ivory Coast or Ghana, the production of oil palm is distributed in 3 sectors: an agro-industrial sector, a village sector controlled by agro-industries, and a small-scale traditional sector.
Table 1. Area and production of oil palm plantations in Cameroon in 2002.
Surface (ha)
Raw production of oil palm (tons)
Agro-industrial plantations
60,000
105,000
“Supervised†village plantations
14,000
Small-scale traditional plantations
24,000
35,000
Source: Monfort (2005).
Even though Indonesia and Malaysia hold a strong leadership position in the oil palm global market, the agro-industrial sector in Cameroon can rely on several advantages.
In the first place, the industrial plantation of oil palms has largely benefited from governmental programmes and from international capital. The intensive culture of oil palm – a plant traditionally used by local populations – begins under the German colonization and is further developed by the French and the British with the creation of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) and of Pamol Plantations.
In 1963, the government starts a first large programme aimed at developing the plantation of oil palms, notably with the creation of SOCAPALM in the Kribi region. In 2001, the Ministry of Agriculture launched an ‘oil palm projec
