Sierra Leone

Although 57.4% of its territory is arable land, Sierra Leone currently has cultivated less than 20% of its territory.

Sierra Leone is at the bottom of the list of food-producing countries. This unenviable position makes the country – and therefore its population – highly dependent on the import of basic commodities.

The civil war, which started, in 1991, caused widespread damage to local infrastructure and a brain drain. Sierra Leone is now one of the poorest countries in the world. Fortunately, since the end of the war in 2002, the country is back on the road to real economic growth.

• Palm oil

Oil palm is native to West Africa and a standard component of the diet of many Sierra Leoneans, resulting in an average monthly consumption of one liter of crude palm oil per person!

Palm oil is mainly produced by smallholder farmers using traditional methods. The smallholder farmers lack technical skills resulting in low productivity and being unable to meet local demand. The figures speak for themselves: up to 2019 50% of oil consumed on the local market was imported. Moreover, the palm oil deficit will most likely get worse, particularly because of a growing population and growing wealth.

SAC started its first palm oil production in 2015 when the newly planted oil palms first started to produce fruits. SAC has been significantly increasing its palm oil production every year since.

Now locally produced palm oil became available, a refinery was commissioned in Sierra Leone in 2019 refining over 100 tons of crude palm oil per day producing cooking oil, soap and margarine for the local market. All crude palm oil is supplied by SAC.