Palm oil is now the world’s leading vegetable oil, and its demand for the production of food and fuel is increasing. Worldwide, this has resulted in an unprecedented quest for land for the establishment of oil palm plantations.
In Cameroon, some of these plantations are being established by large agribusinesses after reaching an agreement with the government. It is envisaged that production and exportation of large of quantities of these products to international markets will contribute to the country’s economic development.
The demand for palm oil has equally paved the way for the evolution of small holders of oil palm such as cooperatives, common initiative groups as well as private individuals (elites) who might even own larger areas of land than groups. Whether large or small, a considerable proportion of these plantations are located in the South West Region of Cameroon.
The main objective of this study is to generate an inventory of the smallholders of oil palm schemes (CIGs, Association, Cooperative and individuals) that operate in the South West region and the scale of their holdings.The specific objectives are (a) collect baseline information on all the small holder farmers in the oil palm sector in the South West Region with emphasis on the Manyu, Ndian and Kupe – Muanenguba divisions and (b) identify the scale of holdings of these small holders oil palm plantations.
