22 July 2015

Developing principles of sustainable oil palm production in Ghana

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Developing principles of sustainable oil palm production in Ghana

Proforest, which is leading the TFA 2020's Africa Palm Oil Initiative, is organising and facilitating a workshop on 22 and 23 July, in collaboration with the Government of Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture, to start the development of a set of principles to guide the sustainable production of oil palm in Ghana. 

The workshop will identify the challenges that affect sustainable oil palm production, while developing practical principles to guide sustainable production and expansion of oil palm in Ghana. It brings together a wide range of stakeholders including government officials, private sector and financial institutions, academics, traditional authorities, smallholders, out-growers, millers, refiners and civil society organizations in the palm oil sub-sector.

TFA 2020 is a public–private partnership whose principal goal is to reduce tropical deforestation across the globe. Its focus is on agricultural commodities like palm oil, soy, pulp and paper, and beef products, which drive more than 50% of such deforestation.

Members of TFA 2020 include the Consumer Goods Forum (representing more than 400 companies, including Walmart, Tesco, Nestle, Unilever and Colgate) as well as the governments of the Indonesia, Liberia, Netherlands, Norway, UK and the USA, and a growing number of environmental and social NGOs.

The TFA 2020 Action Plan on Oil Palm Development in Africa aims to achieve a prosperous palm oil industry, which provides jobs and wealth to local communities in a way that is environmentally and socially sustainable and protects the rich tropical forests of the region. 

Six leading palm oil producing countries in Africa including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria and Ghana are engaged in the initiative and other producer countries are expected to join in the near future.

Proforest provides the Secretariat for the TFA 2020 Action Plan on Oil Palm Development in Africa. More information on TFA is available here.