The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) was not only representing the interest of its member countries but also those of all palm oil producing countries, one of its executives said.
“The establishment of the CPOPC is not only to represent two countries but also the interest of all palm oil producing countries, including in Africa,” CPOPC Deputy Executive Director Dupito D. Simamora said when opening the third online round of the Smallholder Outreach Program (SOP) that involved representatives of palm oil smallholders in Africa on Wednesday (16/9).
Addressing some 35 representatives of smallholder institutions and organization from Ghana, Nigeria, Madagascar, Cote D’Ivoire, Malawi and Tanzania, as well as representatives from member countries Indonesia and Malaysia, Simamora said that the SOP was aimed at providing a platform for smallholders in the Asia pacific, Latin and Central America and Africa to form a global communication network to support the palm oil industry and the interest of its smallholders.
“We will assist with capacity support and the welfare of smallholders across the world, including as a platform for mutually sharing good practices, capacity, better prices and price-determining mechanism while at the same time also counter the negative campaigns against palm oil,” Simamora said as quoted in a written statement of the CPOPC Secretariat sent to The Palm Scribe.
A number of representatives aired the challenge they faced in Africa and also their hopes and appreciation for the initiative of the CPOPC.
“We hope that the Council will be able to provide development support for smallholders because we control 60 percent of production,” said Kwame Amo who represented the Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana (OPDAGH). Meanwhile, Tariq Kidy, the Honorary Consul for Indonesia in Malawi who represented smallholders from that country, aired hope for assistance in developing the palm oil industry in Malawi.
Abdoulaye Bertem a representative of the Côte d’Ivoire Inter-professionnel Association of the Palm Oil Industry (AIPH), expressed hopes that the SOP initiative could open up the opportunity to gain experiences in efforts to improve palm oil prices. “We hope that through this initiative, participants would share their experience in productivity and yields,” Bertem said
CPOPC Executive Director, Yusof Basiron said that palm oil will continue to have a huge potential, not only in improving the quality of welfare of the state and the people in palm oil producing countries but also of its consumers.
“The world will need more palm oil in the future. This is the only vegetable oil that is capable of meeting the growth in world demand,” Basiron said. in his closing statement.
The first round of the SOP was held last month and was attended by 42 representatives from producing countries in the Asia Pacific, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Papua New Guinea. The second round gathered representatives of palm oil smallholders from Latin and Central America and was attended by participants from Columbia, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico on September 8, 2020.
CPOPC currently gathers Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s top two producers who together account for some 85 percent of world supplies, and Columbia.