27/09/2007 (All Africa.com) - The regional project, "Improving the Income Generating Potential of the Oil Palm in Cameroon and Nigeria entered an important phase yesterday with stakeholders in the oil palm sector working out a modality for selecting areas that will host four oil palm processing units in Cameroon.

The project built against the backdrop of outdated local processing methods and skills, is expected to empower small holders in the oil palm sector so that they can control at least 85 % of the palm oil market within the Central and West African sub regions and beyond. This, according to the project Coordinator, Chief Mbi Oruh who doubles as Technical Adviser number II in the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Technological Development, can only pass through industrialisation. "To have 100 hectares of plantation and don't know how to process it, is of no use", he told pressmen in Yaounde. Chief Mbi Oruh described the present situation in Cameroon in the following words: "The processing units we have in Cameroon today are motorized and hand pressing. We have to go beyond this stage. We think that a country like ours has to develop and we have to apply some technology. There are a lot of by-products from palm oil which can be exploited and sold".
 
In effect, the oil palm project sets out to achieve three main objectives: improve technological skills in palm oil processing, build capacity for the sustainable development of fresh palm fruit bunches and improve market access and competitiveness for palm oil produced in the project region. Estimated at CFA 2.5 billion, the project is expected to have far reaching effects, leading to the creation of more than 1,000 jobs. It has a life span of four years and will be executed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

In his speech during yesterday's meeting, the Minister of Industries, Mines and Technological Development, Badel Ndanga Ndinga, recalled the irking problems hampering the sector: obsolete and weak production equipment; less attractive business environment; absence of innovation and weak access to technology; and difficult access to financing. "The oil palm sector constitutes an important economic instrument for creating riches, employment and diversifying of inter-industrial exchange", he said. To the authorities of UNIDO, Mr Ndanga Ndinga assured them of government's commitment to pay in its own contribution to ensure that the project succeeds. Oil palm production in Cameroon today falls short of demand. Statistics show production at 160,000 tons against consumption needs estimated at 220,000 tons by 2010. Production is projected at 170,000 tons by the end of 2007.