Post by Trade Coach on Mar 19, 2017 18:15:48 GMT 1
In Nigeria, oil palm cultivation used to be part of the way of life - indeed it was the culture of millions of people. However, for over two decades the country has become a net importer of palm oil.
The palm oil industry is increasingly becoming a significant foreign exchange earner for many countries round the world; Malaysia and Indonesia being chief exporters. A quick internet search reveals that the two countries each limits fifteen million tonnes of palm oil a year for bio - fuel and other household goods like margarine and soaps among others. But food will always be more important than fuel to consumers.
Every day, people consume palm oil without even knowing it. It starts with the toothpaste they use when they wake up in the morning, the margarine they spread on their bread; to the soap they use to bathe, the moisturizer they rub on their skin; and then to most foods they eat at fast-food restaurants; not excluding public buses that run on biodiesel in some countries like Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia.
As many emerging economies are spending their ways out of recession by investing more in palm oil production, manufacturers of consumer goods in Nigeria would rather import raw materials like oil palm than source them locally, a practice experts say pushes up prices of goods like margarine and soap that heavily relies on palm oil at the very expense of consumers. The Thy Communication’s recent investigations reveal that the resilient remnant of manufacturers of consumer goods in Nigeria, whose brands e.g. margarine etc requires palm oil to a large extent import even from some neighboring countries like Ghana.
Reliable sources also have it that those manufacturers of consumer goods like soap, and margarine e.g. Reckit & Benkiser, Paterson Zochonis (PZ) and Unilever, are not finding it funny looking outside the country for palm oil. Margarine business is compatible with soap business because the products both require oils and fat as raw materials.
The story of how Malaysia obtained palm seedlings from Nigeria in the 196Os to kick off its palm oil industry is well known. But whereas Nigeria can still not earn a kobo in exports from the advantage, Malaysia has gone ahead to establish itself as not only the world leading producer, but exporter of palm oil. Reports also have it that what Malaysia earn annually from the trade is higher than what Nigeria garners from its crude oil exports.
An accurate data has it that 1 in 8 working Malaysians is dependent or is in a job that deals with the palm oil industry. And if you have frank talk with scientists in snack food companies in many parts of the world, they will tell you that palm oil is one of the rare affordable and better products that is still available today.
The importance of this golden crop is reflected by its export contribution. In the globalized market, palm oil is increasingly seen to complement soya bean. In fact, palm oil is a value-for- money food ingredient servicing the mass global population.
Nigeria’s continued dependence on crude oil export to the neglect of its agricultural and manufacturing sector is deemed dangerous. I however, frown at banks that are supposed to provide funds for the agricultural sector that produces raw materials for manufacturers. I reasoned that banks would readily provide funds for religious organizations to build cathedrals whose contributions to the economy and to job creation amount to little or nothing compared with what the real sector can offer.
Somebody should therefore advise the Nigerian government to recognize the manufacturing sector as a major tool for sustainable growth and development and accord it due regard and priority in the scheme of things.
Many assume that the palm oil industry is just confined to farmers. But it is more than that. Bankers, insurance companies, freight forwarders, cargo surveyors, scientists and many other industry practitioners are also part of the sprawling palm oil supply chains.