CIRAD presents its roadmap for sustainable oil palm growing

Oil palm originated in the Gulf of Guinea, and has been grown there for thousands of years. In 2022, some 79 Mt of palm oil were produced, primarily by Indonesia and Malaysia, and mainly consumed in Indonesia, India, the European Union and China.

Oil palm accounts for 36% of the vegetable oils and fats produced worldwide, yet occupies less than  10% of the area planted with oil crops. Despite its exceptional potential yields across the intertropical zone, the value chain faces a range of ecological challenges, centring on deforestation and biodiversity, and social issues such as non-respect of workers’ rights, and land grabbing.

To address the above challenges, CIRAD has produced a ten-year roadmap to help farmers and industrial plantations along the road to more sustainable production operations. The summary of that roadmap hinges on four main ambitions that guide CIRAD's operations:

1. Achieve the agroecological transition to more sustainable oil palm plantations that help restore landscapes: CIRAD is committed to facilitating the agroecological transition of oil palm growing. Its research centres on restoring degraded landscapes, promoting biodiverse, zero-deforestation oil palm plantations, and developing a range of knowledge and tools that serve the transition.
2. Promote a move within the sector towards greater sustainability, inclusiveness and attractiveness, by means of new development models: in responses to environmental and social challenges, CIRAD suggests new development models. Those models aim to integrate oil palm plantations into territories and ensure that they provide decent jobs and fair incomes for producers.
3. Generate and share knowledge to develop the oil palms of the future: CIRAD is continuing its innovative oil palm genetic improvement operations. Its research covers genetic diversity, disease resistance and resilience to climate change, in the hope of breeding oil palms that satisfy farmers' and consumers' requirements.
4. Foster the development of red oil consumption, for sustainable food systems in Africa: CIRAD is supporting red oil supply chains in Africa, by making use of existing biodiversity and responding to farmers’ and consumers’ requirements. The aim is to produce vitamin-rich oil to help fight nutritional deficiencies.

CIRAD has 89 scientists working to achieve these ambitions, by means of 10 research disciplines ranging from genetics to sociology.

Through its research, CIRAD has already developed varieties resistant to the main three oil palm diseases.