• The Agriculture Ministry approved a CFA245.9 billion ($440 million) roadmap for palm oil.
• The 10-year plan targets higher yields, sustainability, and tailored financing.
• Overcapacity in local mills pressures productivity as demand outpaces supply.

Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Agriculture has endorsed a new development strategy for the palm oil industry, with an investment of CFA245.9 billion ($440 million) to be deployed over the next 10 years. The plan, designed by the Rubber-Palm Oil-Coconut Council (CHPC), was announced in a statement on October 1.

The roadmap is built around five strategic pillars. The largest share, 61% of the budget, will go toward improving productivity in village plantations. Other priorities include promoting sustainability and developing financing mechanisms suited to the sector’s needs.

Authorities said the initiative aims to create a palm oil industry that is “competitive, sustainable, inclusive, and a driver of economic growth.” Challenges ahead include aging plantations, tougher international standards on traceability and sustainability, and competition from Asian oils in the West African market.

About 25% of Côte d’Ivoire’s crude palm oil output is exported to regional markets such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, and Nigeria. Between 2021 and 2024, production averaged 573,000 tons per year, according to ministry data.

Boosting yields is also seen as crucial to supplying the domestic processing industry, which already runs above capacity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) noted in its latest report that Ivorian oil mills operate at 152% of available supply, leaving a raw material gap of 52%. “Installed processing capacity exceeds the national supply of palm fruit,” the report stated.

Against this backdrop, the CHPC announced on June 3 that it had suspended new permits for the installation or expansion of first-stage processing plants in the palm oil sector.