Dr. Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, has called for sustainable development in the palm oil industry to increase its benefits.

The minister was speaking at  the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 (TFA 2020) Action Plan on Oil Palm Development in Africa Initiative Regional Workshop organised by Proforest and in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Accra.

“It is important that palm oil refiners, manufacturers and other actors who influence the sector directly and indirectly come together to find ways of reducing the likely negative impacts and increase its benefits, he said.

“We believe this can be done by joining forces with allies who share the same vision and who are ready to forge strategic, mutually beneficial partnerships to work towards set goals,” Dr. Alhassan said.

“Oil palm development is about our people, our livelihood, heritage, our economy and ultimately our legacy.

"We don’t owe its sustainable growth only to the over six million people whose livelihood depend on it, or the consumers all over the world whose lives are better because of the oil palm, but to posterity,” he added.

“Closing the gaps in this sector and producing oil palm sustainably will require concerted efforts from governments, regional bodies, research institutions, private financiers, investors, technocrats, you and I, to ensure the proper understanding and utilisation of oil palm.”

The TFA 2020 is a public–private partnership that brings together companies, governments and civil society to reduce deforestation across the globe.

Six leading palm oil producing countries in Africa -- Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria and Ghana -- are engaged in the Initiative.