The Kogi State Government has taken a significant step towards promoting sustainable and climate-smart oil palm production with the presentation of an Oil Palm Sustainable Management Plan (SMP) by Solidaridad, a solution-oriented civil society organization. The plan, developed under the National Initiatives for Sustainable and Climate Smart Oil Palm Smallholders (NISCOPS), aims to support smallholder farmers in improving productivity and incomes while strengthening their access to markets. This initiative is expected to tackle challenges affecting the oil palm sector, including low productivity and deforestation.
The SMP is structured around four key pillars: environmental stewardship and climate resilience; sustainable economic development and competitiveness; social inclusion, livelihoods, and human rights; and governance, institutions, and policy alignment. According to the program manager of Solidaridad Nigeria, Ernest Ita, the plan was designed to help farmers increase productivity on existing plantations instead of expanding their farms through forest clearance. This approach is expected to address factors limiting the productivity and sustainability of smallholder oil palm farming, such as aging plantations and poor-quality planting materials.
Assessments conducted by Solidaridad identified several factors limiting the productivity and sustainability of smallholder oil palm farming, including aging plantations, poor-quality planting materials, and insecure land tenure. The organization’s intervention has so far reached more than 10,000 smallholder farmers and nearly 5,000 palm oil processors. Additionally, about 7,000 farmers have received harvesting tools, and approximately 600 farmer groups have been supported with improved planting materials. These efforts have led to productivity improvements among some farmers, with yields rising from a baseline of about 2.7 tonnes per hectare annually to more than six tonnes.
The adoption of recommended Best Management Practices has been instrumental in achieving the productivity improvements. Ita urged the Kogi State Government and local government authorities to incorporate the SMP into their agricultural policies and strategies. He emphasized that the framework could be adopted or adapted into government agricultural policies and local bylaws, providing a common direction for farmers, processors, and other stakeholders across the oil palm value chain.
The Project Coordinator, Samson Shaibu, described the SMP as “the practical framework of oil palm development,” anchored on environmental stewardship, social inclusion, economic development, and policy coordination. He noted that smallholder farmers account for between 80 and 82 percent of oil palm production, making their productivity crucial to the growth and sustainability of the industry. Shaibu stressed that replacing wild and aging oil palm trees with improved planting materials and intensifying production on existing farms could increase output without encouraging unnecessary expansion into forest areas.
The SMP also promotes the participation of women and young people in the oil palm sector and encourages the use of Free, Prior and Informed Consent before development activities are undertaken in communities. Ita expressed optimism that the four states covered by the project would adopt the framework and that other oil palm-producing states across the country would eventually follow suit. The initiative is expected to support Nigerian oil palm producers in responding to international sustainability requirements, particularly those relating to deforestation and access to the European market.
The Kogi State Government’s adoption of the SMP is expected to provide a common direction for farmers, processors, and other stakeholders across the oil palm value chain. The framework’s implementation will promote sustainable and climate-smart oil palm production, supporting smallholder farmers in improving productivity and incomes while strengthening their access to markets. With the SMP in place, the state is poised to increase oil palm production while minimizing the sector’s environmental impact.
Key points
- The Oil Palm Sustainable Management Plan aims to tackle challenges affecting the oil palm sector, including low productivity and deforestation.
- The plan promotes the participation of women and young people in the oil palm sector and encourages the use of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
- The initiative is expected to support Nigerian oil palm producers in responding to international sustainability requirements.
