• Does Tanzania need to import oil palm seeds from abroad?
  • Oil palm experts advise that, Tanzania doesn¡¯t need to import seeds from abroad as we have the best parent stock. In total, Tanzania requires some 20,377,500 Tenera plants in order to produce the required 570,000 MT of edible oil through palm oil value chain. This is a huge number of oil palm trees needed in the country.
  • Does Tanzania produce enough edible oil?
  • However, Tanzania believes it has the capacity to produce enough of the required edible oil and so undertook measures to boost production. In the 2018/19 financial year, the country increased the tariffs on crude palm oil to 25% to promote local production of oil seeds.
  • Can palm oil value chain development help alleviate poverty in Kigoma?
  • In Kigoma there are over 30,000 smallholder subsistence palm oil farmers2. Meanwhile, the country imports over 500,000 MT of palm oil per annum. Thus, palm oil value chain development offers great potential for both import substitution and poverty alleviation.
  • Is palm oil better than other palm oil?
  • The yield and quality of palm oil produced in these areas is still superior to the oil produced in other parts of the world. The oil palm tree (Elae?s guineensis) is a member of the family Palmae, subfamily Cocoideae (which also includes the coconut), genus Elaeis.
  • Is palm oil a saturated fat or a monounsaturated oleic acid?
  • Palm oil has an especially high concentration of saturated fat, specifically the 16-carbon saturated fatty acid, palmitic acid, to which it gives its name. Monounsaturated oleic acid is also a major constituent of palm oil. Unrefined palm oil is a significant source of tocotrienol, part of the vitamin E family20.