Oil palm
Context and issues
Oil palm is the world's leading oil crop, and is vitally important for many tropical countries. Its rapid expansion is raising new issues for research, in many fields: environmental, social, economic and political.
The figures for palm oil
- 60 million tonnes produced (54 Mt of palm and 6 Mt of palm kernel oil) per year
- Yields of almost 4 tonnes of oil (palm + PKO) per hectare per year, seven to ten times those of its direct rivals grown in temperate countries (soybean, rapeseed and sunflower)
- 5 million smallholders worldwide supply 40% of the total output
- 20 million hectares planted with oil palm in the humid tropics
- Two countries dominate production worldwide: Malaysia and Indonesia (90%)
- In tropical countries, the human diet accounts for more than 95% of consumption
- Europe imports palm oil as a food ingredient and, increasingly, to make agrofuels
- Global demand for oils and fats is growing by 3% per year
- The RSPO (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) encompasses more than 2500 players.
The issues
For this supply chain, which represents more than a third of global vegetable oil production, there are many issues:
- Satisfying growing demand for edible fats in the South, as a result of population growth and improved living standards in emerging countries
- Ensuring the sustainable, responsible development of a supply chain that respects both the environment and the rights of local people; anticipating on and supporting the recommendations of the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil)
- Improving the productivity of the crop and promoting its by-products, by creating the conditions for ecological intensification
- Including family farms, which account for almost half of global production, in the recent changes made in the sector, such as certification.
Update date: 30/07/2019
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