10/03/2009 (New Times Online) - A day’s  roundtable  discussion has been held in Accra on ways to develop the oil palm industry.

The  meeting, which was attended by stakeholders in the  Palm Oil Industry including the Benso Oil Palm Company,  Ghana Oil Palm Development Company (GOPDC), Unilever Ghana  Limited,  small holder farmers and some other banks, was aimed at educating the stakeholders on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) policy.

The RSPO, which is being pushed by International bodies including World Wide Fund (WWF), Oxfam, Cargil, ensures that oil palm growers, oil processors, food companies, retailers and investors work together towards a global supply of palm that is produced in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

It also promotes palm oil production practices that help reduce deforestation, preserve biodiversity and respect the livelihood of rural communities in oil producing countries.

Palm oil is among the world’s most used in food ingredients and it is currently being applied in about half of all packaged food  products.

Its growing sales in recent years has contributed to economic growth and alleviating poverty in a number of developing countries.

In Ghana Palm Oil  cultivation  (both on large and small scale) provides a lot of employment to the rural folks, providing an income security to them.

Anke Massart, Junior Agronomist of GOPDC, whose  company facilitated the meeting told the Times that the RSPO ensured that no new primary forest or other high conservation values were sacrificed for palm plantations.

She noted that the RSPO ensured that plantations applied accepted  best practices and that the basic  rights and living conditions of millions of plantation workers, small holders and indigenous people are fully respected.

Ms Massart said the RSPO was established in 2003 to address bad practices in oil palm cultivation and palm oil production.

She disclosed that by 2015 Palm Oil producing companies which had not adopted the RSPO policy could not supply oil to Unilever Ghana Limited, which is one of the highest consumers of oil in Ghana.

Ms Massart said the GOPDC is committed to going by the RSPO policy to ensure sustainable production of palm oil.Mr Peter White, Principal Investment Officer of the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank  Group, whose organisation is sponsoring a project on Biodiversity and Agricultural Commodities Programme covering palm oil, soyabeans, sugarcane and cocoa, said there was  the need to promote sustainable production of oil palm.

He said although oil palm requires less land than that of any other oil-producing crop, its continuous cultivation could have negative impact on the land.

These, Mr White stated are displacement of  traditional land users, deforestation and loss of biodiversity.

He  explained that the RSPO had agreed on about 39 social and environmental principles and criteria that define sustainable palm oil production.

They include commitment to transparency, use of appropriate best practices by growers and millers, responsible development of new plantings, environmental responsibility and conservation of  natural resources and biodiversity.

The others are strengthening local people’s livelihood by preventing conflicts  about the rights to use land and the avoidance of  fire for waste disposal or for land preparation.