•  Africa has 6.53M hectares of unrecorded non-plantation oil palms

• DRC and Nigeria hold largest areas; mostly wild or semi-wild palms

• Study suggests hidden palms support food security, local economies
  

African nations have an unrecorded 6.53 million hectares of wild, semi-wild, and garden oil palms, an area more than three times the size of all commercial plantations on the continent, according to a study published on Tuesday, September 9, in the scientific journal IOP Science.

The study, "Extensive unreported non-plantation oil palm in Africa," notes that the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is native to the continent's rainforests. Its fruit is rich in oil used for food, traditional medicine, and various hygiene products. Africa's current palm oil production is not enough to meet regional demand, making most countries net importers of the commodity.

The Overlooked Resource

In Africa, palm oil is produced in various settings, from large-scale industrial plantations to small, organized farms, and from semi-wild to wild trees. Despite its local importance, non-plantation oil palms have been largely underestimated in official statistics. Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which is based on individual country reports, typically focuses on commercial plantations and overlooks mixed gardens and wild palm groves.

To map these unrecorded trees, researchers from the Universities of Antwerp, Wageningen, and Liverpool John Moores, along with an analyst from the environmental consulting firm Borneo Futures, analyzed 11,800 high-resolution satellite images covering all potential oil palm regions in Africa. The study found that these palms grow scattered among other trees and crops, unlike the organized rows of commercial plantations, making them nearly invisible to conventional monitoring methods.

DRC and Nigeria Lead the Way

The 6.53 million hectares of "hidden" oil palms are found in wild or semi-wild stands within forests, agroforests, and gardens. Satellite imagery revealed non-plantation oil palms near 79% of villages in the Congo Basin rainforests and over half of all villages in West Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the largest area with 2.5 million hectares, followed by Nigeria with 1.9 million hectares.

The study also points out that these non-plantation palms are primarily of the "Dura" variety, which has lower yields than the hybrid "Tenera" used in modern plantations. However, many farmers prefer the Dura variety because it casts less shade, making it better for intercropping. The unrefined palm oil produced from Dura is a highly valued staple in African cuisine and often sells for higher prices than refined oil in local markets.

In rural areas, artisanal mills typically process the fruit to meet local demand for unrefined oil and other products like palm wine. Most of this production is consumed locally, highlighting the vital role of these unrecorded palms in the region's subsistence and informal economies.

The study's findings have important implications for understanding African food security and improving information for land use and food policy. Palm oil is a traditional ingredient that provides essential fats and vitamins that are often lacking in many African diets. The discovery of millions of hectares of previously unrecorded oil palms suggests that the nutritional "fat deficit" in the region may be less severe than previously thought, though further research is needed to determine the exact contribution of these trees to local diets.

Walid Kéfi