Opportunities for oil palm development in Benin and Ghana: Institutional conditions for technological change

Abstract

The paper reports on 9 months of exploratory research of the oil palm domain in Benin and Ghana, with a view to identifying opportunities for development. Both countries are in the zone from which the palm, that now gives the world a third of its vegetable oil, originates. Though palm oil and wine production expanded with very rapid population growth, both countries now depend for a considerable proportion of their palm oil requirements on imports especially from S-E Asia. An analysis of opportunities shows that, for oil palm to become ‘an engine for growth’, both technological and institutional issues must be addressed. The paper outlines these issues and concludes that institutional change is a necessary pre-requisite for both countries to benefit from the potential of this ‘miracle’ tree. In addition, variability in weather conditions due to climate change could affect production, which is very sensitive to drought conditions for setting of female flowers.