Market News

Over half a century ago, Nigeria was a world leader in oil palm production, but its status has since changed due to neglect of the sector and extreme weather events

By Abdulkareem Mojeed

On a bright Tuesday morning in May, Fidelis Ekpo, a farmer, sat on a wooden chair, attending to a small heap of palm fruits. With a metallic rod in his right hand, he beat one thorny stalk after the other to extract their fleshy fruits. Less than 1000 metres away, a woman waited for the fruits at the local grinding mill, where they would be steamed in the final oil extraction process.

As Mr Ekpo hit the bunches with his rod, the fermented palm fruits flew in different directions.

“This is not how it used to be in the past,” the farmer recalled, rubbing sweat droplets from his face with the back of his hands.

“The weather really affected our production this year. About three to four years ago, everywhere was filled up because of the friendly weather condition then. But the weather pattern has changed, so we don’t have good yields as we used to.”

Popularly known as “Bush Bishop or Ete oil” —a name he earned from his industry in palm cultivation and production of palm oil—Mr Ekpo, like other farmers in Ikot Afaha community of Abak Local Government in Akwa Ibom State, is facing fluctuating weather conditions among other challenges affecting palm oil production in Nigeria.

Ikot Afaha is located along Abak -Ikot Abasi road. The agrarian community, like many others across the 33 local government areas of Akwa Ibom State, is known for palm oil and palm kernel production.

Largely subsistent farmers, Ikot Afaha people grow oil palm, vegetables, and cassava in addition to local palm oil extraction, tapping and brewing alcoholic beverages (kaikai) and wine from raffia palms.

Most of the dwellers who spoke with this newspaper said palm oil production has declined in the last decade due to extreme weather events and because most farmers lack access to soft loans, planting materials and other necessary inputs.

Ekeobong Johnson, an elder of the Ikot Afaha village, explained that production declined massively during the rainy season.

The farmer believes the weather affects production because they still depend primarily on wild varieties of palm trees. He added that there is a need to replace the old palm with improved varieties that can withstand harsh weather conditions and bear fruits year-round. Some farmers also observed that yields decline with heavy rainfall but improve with moderate rain.

A study on the effect of weather parameters on oil palm production revealed that the distribution of rainfall affects the growth and development of palm trees and, in turn, affects palm oil production.

“We experienced just a short harmattan season last year, and that is what is affecting us now,” Mr Ekpo said. Due to the fluctuating weather, he lamented that the most they can harvest from about 50 square metres of land (with good breeds) are about 60 to 70 heads of fresh fruit bunches (FFB).

“The weather is not really friendly for the production of palm fruits,” he said.

Weather fluctuations

Within the past decades, Nigeria’s climate has been changing rapidly, and the impact is evident on crop production across the country’s different regions.

Amidst increasing temperatures, varying rainfall patterns, flooding, drought, desertification and land degradation disrupting the country’s food systems and livelihoods, extreme weather events have also affected Nigeria’s freshwater resources and loss of biodiversity in the country’s tropical region.

Data from Nigeria’s Meteorological Agency (NiMet) shows that the duration and intensity of rainfall have increased, causing flooding across Nigeria as witnessed last year between August and October.