Forests: African realities, Episode 4: Palm oil cover art

Forests: African realities, Episode 4: Palm oil

Forests: African realities, Episode 4: Palm oil

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Summary

Palm oil is used in a huge number of products, both in the food and cosmetics industries. But also as a biofuel. Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil in the world. And the reason is that oil palms produce almost five times more oil per hectare than sunflowers or rapeseed, so they are much more profitable and much cheaper.


Nigeria is the leading palm oil producer in Africa (and 5th in the world), but accounts for only 2% of global production.


According to the certification body RSPO, which stands for Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, production in Africa has increased by 40% over the last 10 years.


We now know that palm oil production has a significant environmental cost. Worldwide, more than 10 million hectares of tropical forest have disappeared since 1990, and palm oil is considered to be the third biggest source of deforestation.

But what about Africa?


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