UNDP-OLIVES Support To Small Scale Oil Palm Processors At Akyem Subi

Project Summary

Under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Energy Efficiency Grants to Support Artisanal Palm Oil Millers and Producers, OLIVES upgraded two palm oil processing sites and trained palm oil processors at Akyem Subi in the Kwaebibirem Municipality to enhance efficiency and hygienic conditions for production. OLIVES trained about 200 palm oil processors in business and financial management, group formation and occupational health and safety practices in palm oil production.

Small scale oil palm processing is bedeviled with traditional practices which affect the quality of the end product rendering it unsafe for use by domestic consumers and or industry both locally and on the international markets. Observed practices, including, poor storage, adulteration of finished palm oil with Sudan IV dye, the use of spent car tyres as fuel, boiling fruits in rusty metal containers, use of discarded chemical containers for storage of palm oil and unhygienic processing environments cumulatively affect the quality of the palm oil. Associated with these observed practices are issues of occupational health and safety along with the production which is debilitating to the health and welfare of processors. Issues of product quality, environmental hygiene and occupational safety, need to be addressed to promote the growth of the small scale oil palm production industry. Processors do not have formal associations which may act as common front for their activities in terms of information and knowledge sharing and fair pricing for marketing of their products. Small scale processors also do not have technical knowledge of business and financial management and hence experience business stagnation through poor cost benefit assessments.