• palm oil production line palm fruit picker in Cameroon
  • palm oil production line palm fruit picker in Cameroon
  • palm oil production line palm fruit picker in Cameroon
  • palm oil production line palm fruit picker in Cameroon
  • How is palm oil produced in Cameroon?
  • Production of palm oil in Cameroon is distributed across three plantation types or scales: The Government of Cameroon’s Rural Sector Development Plan proposes an increase in palm oil production to 300,000 tons in 2015 and 450,000 tons in 2020.
  • Are non-industrial producers driving oil palm production in Cameroon?
  • Non-industrial producers are driving oil palm production in Cameroon. We analyze the drivers of oil palm production in Cameroon. Access to information and land tenure systems play a crucial role in farmer decision-making. Market orientation also matters in oil palm production.
  • What drives oil palm expansion in Cameroon?
  • Third, oil palm expansion in Cameroon is predominantly driven by non-industrial producers and coordinated around a burgeoning informal milling sector (Ordway et al., 2019). Cameroon can thus be looked upon as a major region of growth when it comes to oil palm production and expansion in Africa.
  • Why is Cameroon a key player in the oil palm sector?
  • In this region, Cameroon is a key player in the oil palm sector as it produces on average 230,000 tons/year of palm oil Jaza Folefack et al. (2019). Cameroon ranks as the 9th and 3rd oil palm producing country in the world in Africa respectively. LASSO stands for Least Absolute shrinkage and selection Operator.
  • Does clearing forest increase palm oil production in southwest Cameroon?
  • Highlights We found that 73% of oil palm producers in Southwest Cameroon reported clearing forest to expand cultivation, based on a survey of 546 farms. The magnitude of expansion was explained by differences in palm oil milling strategies and supply chain integration.
  • Is there a potential oil palm yield gap in Cameroon?
  • In Cameroon, we found that on-farm oil palm yields averaged 5–7 tons FFBs ha−1throughout the study area and across producer groups, well below the 20 tons FFBs ha−1potential yield for the country (Nkongho et al., 2015). The large yield gap points to a major opportunity to increase production on existing oil palm fields.