Government must support palm oil industry – GSSOPPA

The Ghana Small Scale Oil Palm Producers Association is urging government to invest in the palm oil industry to boost the economy.

The Association which is the sole distributor of palm oil to all Senior High Schools under the free SHS policy in the country wants government to intervene by helping farmers and the industry to produce in large quantities to supply to industries as well.

They are also pleading with the government to extend the year contract for supplying palm oil to Senior High schools which commenced last month to be able to sustain palm oil prices on the market.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Association, Amaning Paul, plans are far advanced to expand 10 existing and new local factories within the belt and equip members with managerial skills to manage the facilities.

The Association projects that with government’s assistance, GSSOPPA will create about 50,000 direct jobs and 350,000 indirect jobs to sustain the livelihood of farmers and distributors.

Mr Amaning bemoaned the current state of the palm oil industry and faults the previous government for doing very little to support the industry. He said Ghana imports 35,000 to 50,000 metric tons of oil annually for industries even though the country has the capacity to produce that quantity if stakeholders are resourced.

“Surprisingly, Ghana imports oil from Malaysia but we have the capacity to produce, I can tell you for a fact that the previous government did not do well in the palm industry because we have the land, the weather is okay so what else?

“Malaysia and other countries came to Ghana about 20, 30 years ago to learn this, and now the Malaysia economy is high because of palm, so why have we left the industry?” he told Starr News.

Mr Amaning also noted that if government invests in the sector, about 1.5 million Ghanaians can be employed which will reduce the unemployment rate in the country.

He said: “If we are able to contain the palm industry, we can employ about 1.5 million people, it can solve Ghana’s unemployment issue”.

The Association has partnered three Japanese investors, CDC, KMC and Pro Seed to aid in the production of palm oil to a daily production rate of 400 gallons and 80.000 within six months to meet their demands.