In the early 1870s, the British colonial masters transported oil palm seedlings from Eastern and Niger Delta regions of Nigeria to Malaysia, which was also a British colony at the time. Today, Malaysia is the second largest oil palm producer in the world, followed closely by Indonesia and Thailand and then, Nigeria in a distant fourth position. The irony is that most, if not all of these major exporters of oil palm, got their first seedlings from West Africa, mainly Nigeria. While it has become the mainstay of these countries’ thriving economies, Nigeria, immensely blessed with surplus arable land and human resources to harness this gold mine more profitably, continues to wallow in economic trepidation, extreme mass poverty and high unemployment rates. As an Igbo adage succinctly put it, “living in the stream and washing our hands with spittle!”
Oil palm and coconut cultivation if properly harnessed could be the solution to the myriads of economic woes bedeviling the country today, as it can help rake in millions of foreign exchange, create wealth for both individuals and government, and drastically reduce the unemployment rate while improving the GDP of the country significantly. This is because oil palm and coconut are among the few economic trees in the world which every single product from them are useful in one way or the other and can be converted to economic benefits.
The spear or “Ọmụ” in the Igbo language is extensively used in religious rituals, by both Christians and traditionalists. The palm and coconut fronds not only serve as fodder for herbivorous livestock, but are also used in the weaving of baskets, mats, brooms, hats, and so much more. The palm nuts are processed to produce palm oil, and further processed to make vegetable oils or even palm kernel oil highly in demand for cosmetic products. The chaff and shells can be used as fuels in cooking, while the oil palm shells are used by some in flooring and compound designs. The oil palm stalk can be combusted to produce healthier potash, “ntụ ngụ”, used as a thickener for making Abacha ncha or as a base ingredient for soaps and detergents.
The coconut too on its own, offers many economic advantages: the fruit can be be enjoyed as a snack or processed to obtain coconut oil, a high demand raw material for cooking, medicine and cosmetics. The coconut water is highly nutritious and contains enough vitamins, antioxidants and detoxifiers. The stem of both coconut and oil palm trees are used for roofing of houses due to their pest resistance, strength and lightness in weight. They can still be used as firewood for cooking. An unproductive oil palm tree can be converted to produce palm wine, which on its own is another gold mine.
The economic benefits offered by the oil palm and coconut cultivation are vast and cut across so many industries; medicine, building construction, cosmetology, food processing, etc. This implies that there is an ever ready market for them, within and without Nigeria.
This could be the inspiration behind the persistent and relentless drive of the Anambra State Government under Prof Charles Soludo to promote the cultivation of these cash crops in commercial quantities. Between August 2022 and June 2023, several tonnes of hybrid species of oil palm and coconut seedlings have been imported and distributed freely to farmers across the twenty-one local government areas in the state. The governor promises more incentives for the oil palm and coconut farmers in the state, and a viable blueprint backed up by a strong action plan is discernible from the policy thrust of the agricultural ministry in the state. As the free distribution of the gold seedlings continues, more aggressive awareness campaigns should be embarked upon, while a sustainability and expansion framework is articulated and implemented simultaneously.
On their parts, Ndị Anambra, especially the job seeking youths, should not fail to take full advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity, to scale up the local cultivation of oil palm and coconut in the state, in order to reap the immense economic and social benefits they offer.
Written by OBUM OKONKWO
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