The Challenge

Over the past five decades, the global palm oil sector’s rapid expansion has come at the expense of some of the world’s most biodiverse forests. More than 10 million hectares of tropical forest have disappeared since 1990, with palm oil ranked as the third largest source of forest loss. As growth in global demand for the world’s most versatile vegetable oil is projected to continue, governments and companies are increasingly committed to ensuring the sector addresses critical social and environmental issues.

Oil palm trees are native to Africa, and the continent has drawn attention as a new frontier for palm oil production in recent years. This poses risks to Africa’s remaining rainforests, which sit in the suitable oil palm growing belt. However, implemented responsibly, sustainable expansion of the region’s palm oil sector to meet increasing demand could contribute to improved food security and better livelihoods for millions of Africans, whilst also protecting West and Central Africa’s remaining rainforests.

To support this transition, the Africa Palm Oil Initiative (APOI) has brought together 10 countries – accounting for 75% of Africa’s forests – who have committed to place sustainability, good governance, and human rights at the heart of their expanding palm oil industries.

The initiative

Led by the  Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) , the APOI is a multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together national governments, traditional leaders, local communities, indigenous peoples, donors, technical partners, investors, producers, retailers, and traders, amongst others. The APOI's joint vision is for a prosperous palm oil industry that brings jobs and wealth to local communities in a way that is environmentally and socially sustainable and protects the rich tropical forests of the region.

Each of the 10 participating countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone) have set up platforms to develop national principles and action plans for responsible palm oil development, which place sustainability, transparency, good governance, and human rights at their heart.

As a collective, the APOI countries have agreed on key themes for a set of regional guiding principles, addressing deforestation, community rights, labour conditions, smallholder development and biodiversity protection. These were signed into effect under the Marrakesh Declaration in 2016.

P4F support

P4F is supporting the APOI to build its sustainability mechanisms and accelerate implementation in all 10 countries, alongside driving investments in Africa’s sustainable palm oil sector. The work builds on previous support to expand and strengthen the initiative, which included developing the national platforms and action plans and the regional declaration. This current phase, coordinated by  Proforest  under the TFA, has four key focus areas:

  1. National platform sustainability: Institutionalising and securing the future of the APOI national platforms.
  2. Implementation: Providing technical support for the implementation of principles and actions in six priority countries. Work includes capacity building and engaging governments on integrating sustainability requirements into national laws.
  3. Engagement and collaboration: Supporting regional and global platforms to share lessons and support at the global level – including UNFCCC COP and the FACT Dialogue. Engaging regional bodies such as ECCAS and other international bodies including UNDP, EFI and CAFI to continue to align their programmes in West and Central Africa with APOI national principles and actions.
  4. Investment case for oil palm development: Generating investment in sustainable oil palm development in Africa with a focus on smallholders. Drawing on the experiences of BOPP and similar projects in the region to create wealth for local communities, enhance job creation and sustainable livelihoods, and contribute to forest protection.

Impact

Since APOI launched in 2014, 10 countries have endorsed and committed the initiative – growing from an initial seven. Some of the initiatives’ key achievements include:

  • Setting up the regional platform – which has successfully engaged key regional bodies such as ECOWAS and ECCAS to support the implement national principles and actions;
  • Developing sustainability and financial plans to institutionalise the initiative in all 10 APOI countries;
  • Training farmers, community members, government and companies on key sustainability tools and approaches – such as the RSPO, FPIC, HCV and HCSA;
  • Integrating the sustainability tools into national laws and regulations (Liberia, Gabon, Edo State);
  • Increased uptake and implementation of RSPO sustainability requirements – all national principles and action plans include compliance with the RSPO standards as a key requirement for palm oil companies, and;
  • Establishing a Forestry Commission in Edo State, Nigeria.

Future potential

The APOI has a key role to play in ensuring that the expansion of Africa's palm oil sector is done sustainably, in a way that protects environmental and human rights, and provides local communities with genuine economic opportunities and improved livelihoods.

As well as providing a unique opportunity for the member countries to exchange knowledge and experience, the national and regional platforms will generate valuable insights for sustainable development in the wider palm oil sector in other regions, including Latin America and Asia.