Transferring Oil Palm Plantation Best Management Practices (BMP) from Southeast Asia to West Africa

IPNI Southeast Asia demonstrated a huge success of BMPs in oil palm growing environments in Southeast Asia. Today, oil palm growers invest in existing plantations elsewhere in the world, including in West Africa. In environmental analyses, IPNI demonstrated similarity of poorer oil palm environments in Kalimantan with other regions in Southeast Asia, in Latin America and also in West Africa. This project will assess the requirements for adaptation of BMPs in West Africa in IPNI partner plantations in Ghana, and if results permit, develop concepts and projects for full BMP adaptation in West Africa.

In 2012, a feasibility assessment was conducted in oil palm plantations in Ghana that belong to plantation partners of IPNI Southeast Asia. We identified and contracted the required expertise to undertake the assessment. Local plantation partners provided the necessary logistical support, data and information. The research team assessed the agronomic, socio-economic and social conditions in the West African plantations against the requirements for successful implementation of BMP. The field feasibility assessment results were encouraging: Three major oil palm producers in Ghana have endorsed the establishment of a BMP project to intensify their oil palm production.

We will work in 2013 in partnership with two or three plantations, smallholder out growers, Ghana Oil Palm Research Institute and Ghana Ministry of Agriculture to establish BMP project sites. The project will be a pioneering effort in West Africa where intensive, high yielding, commercial oil palm production systems are in their infancy. It is estimated that losses in opportunities are indeed significant from the 4 million ha of oil palm grown in West Africa, due to reduced yields. The project provides an opportunity for oil palm growers to intensify production on pre-existing plantations, enhance their profitability and manage the environment sustainably, as shown in previously successful BMP projects in Indonesia. By engaging with the Sustainable West African Palm-Oil Programme, that supports the intensification of oil palm production, IPNI aims to transfer BMPs from its project sites to other plantations and smallholder systems in the region. In 2013, an adaptation process and field trials will be designed and implemented. IPNI-53