Cover_Rebuilding West Africas Food Potential

350 Rebuilding West Africa’s food potential

favors large plantations for economies of scale, which raises the question of whether and to what extent

small-scale farmers, including women, can successfully compete, capture a share of the value addition of

the growing sector and improve their incomes.

Oil palm is grown in the forest belt in Ghana, where the rainfall amount is greater than 1200 mm/annum

and distributed in a bimodal fashion. The most suitable areas for oil palm cultivation in Ghana are in

the Western, Central and Eastern Regions. Large oil palm plantations (nucleus estates and outgrowers)

and processing mills are located in these regions. Some of the large-scale plantations are Benso Oil Palm

Limited (BOPP) and Norwegian Oil Palm Ghana Limited (NORPALM) in the Western Region, Twifo Oil

Palm Plantation Limited (TOPP) in the Central Region, and the Ghana Oil Palm Development Company

(GOPDC) at Kwae near Kade in the Eastern Region (see Figure 1).

At present, it is estimated that Ghana has more than 150 000 ha of wild groves of (Dura) oil palm, as

well as approximately 140 000 ha in private, unorganized small holdings, and some 40 000 ha in estates

with smallholder and outgrower schemes. The total estimated area of oil palm in the country is 330 000

ha (MoFA, 2010).^2

Figure 1. Map of Ghana Showing the Oil Palm Growing Areas

(^2) MoFA (2010). MASDAR: Master Plan Study on the Oil Palm Industry in Ghana. November, p. 1.2.