By Emmanuel Uffot
In furtherance of its commitment to contribute to the reduction in the emission of green-house-gas (GHG), in the environment given its health hazard, Solidaridad, a solution-oriented civil society organization, is working towards the adoption of renewable energy along the oil palm chain.
In a bold step towards achieving this, Solidaridad under its National Initiatives for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Oil Palm Smallholders (NISCOPS), recently organized a private investors engagement workshop in Enugu. The workshop was to explore the adoption of renewable energy for the sustainable oil palm landscape and develop strategies for accessing climate finance for the energy needs of the sector.
Participants at the workshop were drawn from stakeholders in the renewable energy and oil palm sector in Nigeria such as manufacturers and dealers of equipment, oil palm processors and renewable energy financiers like the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) and the Bank of Industry, (BOI) among others.
Kenechukwu Onukwube, programme manager, oil palm Solidaridad in Nigeria, said that the current source of energy in the oil palm landscape is the use of fossil fuel which has its hazard effects on the environment. He said there is a need for the use of clean and safe energy along the oil palm value chain-from the nursery, planting and post-planting down to harvest and processing.
“What is common at the mill level is the use of firewood as the energy source for the boiling of the fresh fruit bunches. This is contributing to deforestation which should be replaced with renewable energy. Also, there is the use of fossil fuel in powering of milling machines, the use of renewable energy will be more sustainable”.
The participants agreed to work towards the increasing use of renewable energy in the oil palm value chain and climate financing for the sector.
The workshop in Enugu is one of the many workshops Solidaridad has held with stakeholders in the four pilot programme states in Nigeria in line with its goal enhancing the productivity of oil palm business and empowerment of the stakeholders.
Just last June, the organization held a similar workshop in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State where its instructors recommended a sustainable management plan for oil palm farmers as a veritable tool to improve their yield, productivity and their business, as well as highlighted available market opportunities for agricultural producers.
That workshop in Akwa Ibom had the State Commissioner of Agriculture and Food Sufficiency Dr Offor and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Mrs Mary Ukoette in attendance.
Solidaridad implements the NISCOPS programme in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Enugu and Kogi States. There are over 15,000 smallholder oil palm farmers benefitting from the programme in the four states of Nigeria. The programme is improving oil palm productivity and the welfare of small holder farmers through climate-smart agricultural practices.
