Strengths and threats of a successful business

Palm oil is an oil of vegetable origin that is obtained from the mesocarp of the fruit of the palm (Elaeis guineensis). It is the second type of oil with the highest volume of production, the first being soybean oil. The fruit of the palm is slightly red, as is the unrefined bottled oil. Crude palm oil is a rich source of vitamin A and vitamin E.

The palm is native to West Africa, it was already obtained oil 5,000 years ago, especially in West Guinea where it passed to America, introduced after the voyages of Columbus, and in more recent times was introduced to Asia from America. The cultivation in Malaysia is of great economic importance, it provides the largest amount of palm oil and its derivatives worldwide. In America, the largest producers are Colombia and Ecuador.

The use of palm oil can date back more than 5000 years. At the end of the 19th century, a substance found to have been originally palm oil was discovered in a tomb of Abydos (dated 3000 years ago). Some historians think that palm oil was introduced into Egypt by Arab traders, while others argue that it is not possible for Arabs to be responsible, because they did not settle in Africa until the 8th century A.C. and that it is more likely that it was introduced into Egypt by its original colonizers, who migrated from other regions of the African continent.

The cultivation of African oil palm is not only replacing tropical forests and cultivated pastures, but also generates devastating consequences on soils, transforming large hectares of land into infertile and, in some cases, unusable, according to an investigation.

The expansion of oil palm cultivation (Elaeis guineensis) is generating a huge environmental impact worldwide, very acute in countries of Southeast Asia and Latin America, where these plantations are replacing tropical forests by 40% and in a 32% to natural pastures and basic grain cultivation areas.

The loss of biodiversity, the disappearance of the habitat of species such as gorillas and the contamination of water and air by large fires are some of the most controversial environmental impacts known so far caused by the plantations of oil palm, which It also has harmful effects on people's health.

The palm has a useful life of 25 years. After its cycle it is necessary to kill the plantation in order to extract it and fertilize the soil and then replant it. According to the researcher, this action is not economically profitable, given that the cost is very high and the soil is only recovering. That is why companies seek new forests or vacant and fertile land to generate new oil palm plantations on a large scale.

Is the expansion of the palm a threat to the future?

It is not a threat to the future, but one of the most important and worrying causes of the destruction of tropical forests nowadays. Many damages caused by the oil palm agroindustry in tropical countries are irreparable. As a sample, we present some critical examples of expansion of palm plantations:

In Indonesia, conflicts over the expansion of palm plantations have increased: large companies are illegally expropriating farmers and hiring private security to enforce the de facto state. In 2006 alone, 350 agrarian conflicts and 1,753 cases of human rights violations were documented.

The strategic plan for the plantation of agro-fuel species for the state of Chiapas, Mexico-a pilot plan at the national level-establishes 900,000 hectares as the potential surface in the state of Chiapas (7th of the state's surface!). Two nurseries for African Palm, the largest in Latin America, have already been established south of the Lacandon Jungle. This megaproject is qualified by the ecology and ethnocide local environmental and social organizations for allowing and promoting the individual titling and subsequent privatization of the lands of the indigenous peoples and peasant communities, known in Mexico as ejidos and communal goods.

In Colombia, the expansion of palm oil is related to serious violations and abuses of human rights. A total of 113 murders have been documented in the Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó river basins in the Chocó region, by paramilitaries working with palm oil companies, so that they can claim lands that legally belong to Afro-Colombian communities. The paramilitary groups operate with the support of the 17th Brigade of the Colombian Navy and are responsible for 13 forced displacements. The paramilitary strategy developed in complicity with the Colombian army includes economic blockade, targeted assassination, massacres and torture. Despite the evidence of the illegality of the establishment of palm plantations (recognized by the Attorney General and the Ombudsman of Colombia, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, etc.) and the destruction of human lives, the Colombian government It has not yet taken effective measures to prevent this situation or to restore stolen land to Afro-Colombian communities. There have also been conflicts in Tumaco, Magdalena Medio, Vichada, Meta and the Amazonian regions.

In Ecuador, oil palm plantations caused the loss of unique primary forests that formed the community and ancestral territory of communities, ending with their sources of water, food, medicine, spirituality and culture. At present, the Government's Agrarian and Forestry Plan plans more than 450,000 palm trees, among other monocultures for the production of agrofuels, occupying tropical forests and food crops in indigenous territories, Afro-Ecuadorian and peasant communities. Your human right to water will be severely violated.

In Peru, in the middle of the Amazon, regions of San Martin and Loreto, the Peruvian government's policy and the actions of the oil palm companies are causing the destruction of thousands of hectares of virgin forest. Without any kind of consultation with the population, thousands of hectares of jungle have been concessioned to palm oil companies that have been deforesting the forest since 2006 and forcing the displacement of communities in the area that are resisting eviction.

In Guatemala, mega-projects of oil palm have been launched for the production of agro-diesel, causing an accelerated change in land use, which has affected the food sovereignty of rural areas, as well as the displacement of large numbers of people peasant The president of the country was forced a few months ago to declare officially the state of food emergency.

The accelerated growth of oil palm cultivation in some countries has put this business on the map. However, oil palm production is also the main cause of deforestation in these countries.

The fruit of the oil palm is harvested to produce, mainly, palm oil (the second most used in the world) and biodiesel. Its main buyers are Colombia, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic and Spain (crude palm oil); and Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Bolivia (refined oil).

Biodiesel is, in theory, friendlier to the environment. However, the deforestation necessary to plant the palm generates the emission of greenhouse gases, harmful to the planet.

The expansion of oil palm monocultures occurs at the expense of degradation, burning of peatlands and deforestation, which in themselves entail strong emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. To these are added emissions due to the loss of soil carbon, the use of nitrogen fertilizers, emissions from agricultural machinery and the loss of CO2 sinks. Palm oil is used for the industrial production of agrofuels. Although these types of fuels are promoted as more environmentally friendly, there are studies that show that increasing the amount of agrofuels by importing palm oil increases CO2 emissions instead of reducing them.

Palm oil is among the ingredients of many food products that we consume daily. All of us consume palm oil from the deforestation of tropical forests. This is sold to multinational companies such as Unilever, Nestlé and Procter & Gamble, and other major brands of food, cosmetics and agrofuels.

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