Palm oil is edible oil which is extracted from the pulp of fruit of oil palms.
The oil palm is the second most important tree crop in the Ghanaian economy after cocoa. It is therefore one of the leading cash crops in the rural economy in the forest belt of Ghana. Oil palm, an essential oilseed, produces many products both for domestic consumption and as inputs for the industrial sector. The structure of the palm oil industry in Ghana has been shaped by the presence of two different markets: home consumption and industrial use in domestic manufacturing.
According to research, It is estimated that large plantations use 20 percent of available land to produce 55% of national Crude Palm Oil output, while medium-scale producers use 5% of land to produce 5% of Crude palm Oil. Small-scale producers (which are the largest in number), on the other hand, use 77% of land to produce 39% of national output.
There is an insufficient supply of palm oil products in Ghana and the sub-region to meet demand requirements. Ghana currently has a total of 305 758 ha of oil palm, more than 80 percent of which is cultivated by private small-scale farmers. It is estimated that 243 852 tonnes of palm oil is being produced and that Ghana currently has an unmet demand of 35 000 tonnes of palm oil.
