The robbed oil palm

Next year (2012) palm oil will occupy the first place in the world in the trade of edible oil. Governments in Europe, North America and China are pushing for the increasing use of "agricultural fuel", biodiesel

The products of Eleais Guinness include a wide variety of food additives, processed food, cosmetic products, edible oils, lubricating oils and... Bio fuel. According to surveys by the International Food Organization, every one of ten products sold in supermarkets contains palm oil.

Next year (2012) palm oil will occupy the first place in the world in the trade of edible oil. Governments in Europe, North America and China are pushing for an increasing use of "agricultural fuel", biodiesel produced from palm oil is becoming a "hot" commodity. The demand for palm oil and its products ignites a war of words between the supporters and opponents of the use of the oil. The growing demand for oil is stimulating demand for land in Africa.

Today, Malaysia and Indonesia supply about 90% of the demand for oil, this at the expense of sweeping destruction of evergreen forests and swamps under the "green" slogan because growing and using palm oil helps to stop climate change and prevent global warming.... is that so?
According to the environmental organizations "Greenpeace" and "Friends of the Earth", the oil palm plantations cause the situation to worsen, again due to the cutting down of the rainforests and drying up of lakes and swamps. Plantations that cover millions of dunams and constitute a monoculture (uniform cultivation), require a lot of use of fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides, these spill into the environment and intensify the damage.

There have been several successes for the activities of green bodies against corporations that harm the environment: consumer boycotts against Nestlé, Coca-Cola, the manufacturer of the Barbie doll, furniture, clothing and others manufacturers, boycotts that caused a change in the form of activity of these corporations so that their harm to the environment would be minimal.
But a boycott against the oil palm corporations is complicated and almost impossible because of the huge variety of products in which palm oil is a significant component.

To face the criticism, the oil palm growers together with traders, industrialists, investors and other partners in the supply chain established an organization called the "Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil", perhaps with the intention of sustainable production but certainly to try and outwit the The justified claims.

How justified the claims are can be understood when it turns out that the Indonesian government has announced an end to granting concessions (moratorium) for the development of plantations in open areas, forests and swamps. The problem is that the "moratorium" is flawed and allows giant Asian, American, and European corporations such as Sime Darby, Olam Internationala, Wilmar International to bribe government officials and continue the destruction, as well as to look for new "pastures" in Africa.

In Sierra Leone, whose inhabitants lack "food security", 45 square kilometers were leased for a period of 21 years (with the possibility of extension for another 4000 years) and within a year oil palms will be planted on them, on the scale of Dr.-M.Asia. This is a small area, but this is only the beginning, when the intention is to reach 10% of the country's areas where oil palms will be grown by European and Asian companies. In Liberia, about 5% of the country's land was leased to foreign investors who intended to plant oil palms.

About 6,000 square kilometers were leased for periods of more than 60 years to the following companies: Sime Darby - from Singapore and the British companies Golden Agri Resources - Equatorial Palm Oil, this in a country that imports 60% of basic foodstuffs.

In Cameroon, Benin, Gabon, Congo and the Republic of Congo, corporations from the USA, Europe and China are leasing 30 square kilometers of land to grow oil palm for biodiesel production. It is worth emphasizing that some of the leased areas are inhabited by small farmers who are evacuated with the backing of promises of "development and a better future". Other areas are nature reserves, swamps that dry up and equatorial evergreen forests that are cut down with serious damage to water sources, natural pastures and the diversity of flora and fauna.

It seems that African governments that allow the "tsunami" of land acquisition and leasing have forgotten their long and painful struggle for independence, as they not only allow and enable the process but also encourage the activities of land grabbers and foreign corporations to return and cause serious injuries like those caused by colonialism.

With the exception of a small number of plantations developed (in Africa) during the colonial period, the oil palm grew as a wild tree or as part of a variety of fruit trees in small plots of local farmers, plots where various fruit trees grew: bananas, kola nuts, as well as vegetables, cassava and others. The residents squeeze the (red) oil, for which its nutritional importance is second only to grains. The oil is used as a soup, as a sauce, for frying and baking. The fruit can be cooked or roasted.

A transparent oil can be squeezed from the seed of the fruit, which is used to make local soap. The lees left after squeezing can be fed to animals or spread as fertilizer. The oil palm trees in the bar or in the gardens provide one of the "delicacies" of Africa - palm wine.

The wine is produced by fermenting resin that oozes from "wounds" that are cut at the root of the palms, and is an important source of income for resin collectors and a source of joy for its consumers. The tree is also used as a shade tree in gardens, coffee and ksava and when grown in the wild forms an important part of the natural diversity.

The tree that enriched industrialists and "oil barons" is African in origin. The (red) oil palm Eleais guineesis belongs to Central and West African farmers who have known it and its products for about 3000 years.
The palm tree has always been used as a source of food, a (spicy) drink, fertilizer and building and roofing materials. Today, after research, it is clear (what African farmers always knew) that the oil extracted from the palm fruit has a high nutritional value. The oil contains vitamins and is therefore a "health food".

The fact that the "palm owners" did not know how to claim the right to a patent on genetic material was used by the colonialists to make profits. Profits derived from robbery. The Europeans "discovered" the "African treasure" during the period when they traded slaves. Later, when the industrial revolution began (in England) the oil was used to lubricate machines and make candles.

At the beginning of the 20th century, planting began on an industrial scale in Central and Central Asia. In 1960, Malaysia became the largest supplier of oil in the world, huge areas were planted, the oil was refined and marketed all over the world. The prosperity was influenced by the global demand for "clean" fuel and in 2007 Indonesia overtook Malaysia and took the first place in oil exports.

All the plantations in Central and Eastern Asia are based on four species of oil palm brought from Africa and planted in 1848 in the Bogor Botanical Garden in Indonesia. The environmental damage caused by the development of the plantations is a disaster on a "biblical" scale.

The oil fields in Nigeria, the revenues from which did not benefit Nigerians but caused continuous environmental pollution in the Niger Delta, pollution that harms the environment and the residents, are an excellent example from which we can learn about the damage caused to Africa as a result of corporate takeover of its natural wealth. Governments and rulers are brainwashed (and bribed) into believing that leasing land to foreign investors will lead to investments in renewable agriculture, and anyone who opposes "renewal", anyone who tries to protect the small farmers, is considered to be doing it for "romantic" reasons. This belief makes the rulers forget the huge dangers that the land business causes to the citizens and their countries.

Indeed, small farmers need the support that the development of the local farms will bring, but the investments of foreign corporations cause the destruction of the small farms and harm the farmers' ability to exist and develop - economically and socially.

Despite this, vast areas in Central and West Africa are being passed into the hands of huge corporations that are taking advantage of the growing demand for palm oil. Companies from Asia, Europe and North America are trying to turn small agricultural farms, wetlands, evergreen forests and nature reserves into a source of capital creation. Capital created due to the growing demand for palm oil. A demand that could severely damage a large part of the Black Continent.

At the time when the oil palm was discovered by the West, African countries were under a colonial regime. The tree that originated in Africa was "stolen" by the colonialists, improved varieties were developed that were planted in Indonesia and Malaysia while destroying evergreen forests and devastatingly damaging the natural environment and a rich and special variety of species. The areas suitable for planting the oil palm are decreasing in Central and South Asia. The green bodies are pressing for an end to the damage to the environment, the giant corporations have found a solution: they lease huge areas in Central and West African countries, countries where the central government is weak, corrupt and can be bribed. Old-growth forests, pastures and agriculture are leased or some would say robbed and their residents who have lived in the area for many generations are forced to gather in "work camps".

True, the companies promise: jobs, investments in health services, schools and regional development, but these investments come at the expense of agricultural areas, water sources and biodiversity. Investments that from the residents' point of view mean the loss of sovereignty. Investments that represent the return of colonialism. If the trend of exploitation does not stop, the damage to the residents and the natural environment will be a continuous disaster.

If in the past it was said "You murdered and also inherited", we ask: "You robbed, stole, conquered and now you inherited maliciously and above?"