• Are technology-driven intensifications in place in the Congo Basin palm oil sector?
  • Research suggests that technology-driven intensification, are in place (Byerlee et al. 2014). encouraging sustainability in the Congo Basin palm oil sector. development. Success will also rely on active engagement with civil society organizations as well as public and private companies.
  • Are the Congo Basin’s leaders paying attention to oil palm expansion?
  • There are some early signs that the Congo Basin¡¯s leaders are already paying attention to the potential environmental trade-offs of oil palm expansion ¨C like the Marrakesh Declaration, in which seven African governments pledge a shift towards sustainable, low-carbon palm oil production.
  • Where does palm oil come from?
  • Palm oil¡¯s legacy in Southeast Asia is visible from space. The region accounts for 87 percent of global production. Borneo, who has now less than half of its rainforests remaining, hosts nearly half the world¡¯s 18 million hectares of the crop alone.
  • Is Africa a big exporter of palm oil?
  • Africa¡¯s contribution to global palm oil supplies declined from 77 percent in 1961 to less than 4 percent in 2014, as the crop boomed in Malaysia and Indonesia. But many of the Congo Basin¡¯s most forested countries are dreaming big. Cameroon aims to double palm oil production by 2035, and Gabon has ambitions of becoming a leading exporter.
  • Will palm oil be the next frontier?
  • Instead, palm oil¡¯s next frontier is likely to be the rainforests of the Congo Basin, in Central Africa ¨C where a quarter of the world¡¯s tropical forest carbon stocks are stored. Will history repeat? Does palm oil expansion necessarily lead to rampant deforestation?
  • Is oil palm in Central Africa a different story from Asia?
  • They found that in many ways, oil palm in Central Africa is a rather different story from Asia ¨C with its own opportunities and challenges. Africa¡¯s contribution to global palm oil supplies declined from 77 percent in 1961 to less than 4 percent in 2014, as the crop boomed in Malaysia and Indonesia.