• Where is oil palm grown?
  • Oil palm is a tropical plant species. It thrives on high rainfall, adequate sunlight, and humid conditions ¨C this means the best growing areas are around the equator.4 Palm oil is therefore grown in many countries across Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia. In the map, we see the distribution of production across the world.
  • How much land is used to grow palm oil?
  • Between 1970 and 2020, the land the world uses to grow palm has increased by almost ten times, from 3 million to almost 30 million hectares. Indonesia and Malaysia account for around 70% of global land use for palm oil. This is relatively little, considering that these countries account for more than 80% of production.
  • Which West African countries produce palm oil?
  • Cameroon: Cameroon is another West African country that has been producing palm oil for decades. It is the 12th-largest producer in the world, with an output of 465,000 metric tons. Ghana: Ghana’s palm oil industry is still relatively small, with a production of 300,000 metric tons.
  • What percentage of oil palms are cultivated by smallholders?
  • Globally, smallholders are responsible for about 27% oil palm cultivation 5.72?¡À?0.22?Mha. In West Africa and Central Africa, smallholders occupy about 68% (0.79?¡À?0.11?Mha) and 26% (0.21?¡À?0.6?Mha) of total area cultivated, respectively (Descals et al., 2021 ).
  • How has palm oil production changed since the 1960s?
  • Palm oil production has increased rapidly since the 1960s. Between 1970 and 2020, the world¡¯s production of palm oil increased by about 40 times. Global production went from only 2 million tonnes to around 80 million tonnes. The change in global production is shown in the chart.3
  • Where did palm oil come from in 2024?
  • Destinations In April 2024, Palm Oil were exported mostly to Zimbabwe (ZAR12.6M), Eswatini (ZAR9.34M), Botswana (ZAR3.73M), Zambia (ZAR2.86M), and Namibia (ZAR2.48M), and were imported mostly from Malaysia (ZAR361M), Indonesia (ZAR252M), Singapore (ZAR3.76M), Spain (ZAR1.07M), and Switzerland (ZAR664k).