Is the African Palm Oil an Industry for Belize?

It is the largest oil-producing plant in the world and earlier this year, Belize experimented with the idea of growing the nut that makes African Palm Oil as an alternative to naturally-produced cooking oils. Experts in the agriculture industry believed the African Palm Oil had great potential for Belize, and at a summit held late last year, Guatemalans in the industry had offered their advice to Belizean farmers on how to grow and manage the crop. This week’s edition of Belize on Reel takes a closer look at the African Palm Oil and found out that while it produces a very healthy cooking oil, the labour it requires for harvesting is a challenge. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

 

File: Jan 18, 2024: Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture

“I believe that one other option is African palm oil. Although the environmentalists have a little concern about it because in other countries when they planted African palm oil, they had to clear a lot of land. In this case, it’s not that, because the lands are very clear for citrus. It’s just replacing the dead orchards with another product.”

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Back in January, the African Palm Oil industry showed a lot of promise. At an investment summit, Guatemalan agro producers shared their interest, expertise and knowledge with Belizean farmers who were previously involved in declining crops like citrus and bananas. But there hasn’t been much advancement since then to establish an African Palm Oil Industry.

 

Hugh O’Brien, Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture

“Belize so far, it’s not like any physical research has begun. We were at an exploration stage in terms of the African oil palm industry. The oil generated from the oil palm, from the African oil palm dominates just about between 33 and 34 percent of the oil market in the world, of the plant oil market, if I can call it that. You’re comparing it to soybeans, to sunflower and other oils that are used, coconut oil and so on. So it’s the biggest – it is the largest oil-producing plant in the world. It’s a plant that can produce 3,000 pounds of oil per acre.”

 

 

Aside from its economic potential, the product from African Palm Oil is considered among the healthiest naturally produced oils for cooking. In addition, it is also used in different types of cosmetics.

 

Hugh O’Brien

“You can export in its crude form, and there are other companies in the world that will buy that, and then purify it more, and use it in cosmetics, and consumption oil and facial creams and soaps and it’s a wide range of products that is produced from African Oil Palm.”

 

But why has the discussion on the product not gone past the exploratory stage? Advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture, Hugh O’Brien says there were some challenges that were identified that this crop would pose for Belize.

 

 

 

 

Hugh O’Brien

“We have not made a decision to go full scale ahead. We have not closed the doors on the opportunity, but based on how things are with our other industries, interest from our farmers we’re going to make that decision. It is just like coconut is, it does take an amount of labour to get the fruits harvested to manage your farm. All our industries are struggling right now. The papaya people are having challenges getting workers. The coconut farmers are having challenges getting workers. In fact, this year we’re going to be losing between 150,000 to 200,000 boxes of oranges because we have been unable to harvest it fast enough  because of labour challenges.”

 

We visited a residence in Teakettle Village where African Palm Oil trees are grown but for decorative purposes only. Marion Ali for News Five.