On the back of reforms by the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki in the agriculture sector to boost oil palm production and economic growth, the State has emerged as Nigeria’s number one oil palm producing State, contributing about 12 per cent to the aggregate palm oil production in Nigeria.

Edo State is closely followed by Akwa-Ibom and Cross River State who contribute between five to eight percent.

The Governor through the Edo State Oil Palm Programme (ESOPP), aimed at de-risking the oil palm value chain by providing contiguous land to investors for sustainable production has allocated over 70,000 hectares of land for oil palm development and attracted over $500 million in investment, the largest of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa.

Apart from Okomu and Presco, the two largest agric companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the State today plays host to over ten companies that have been allocated land including Dufil Prima Foods, the makers of Indomie Noodles; Saro Oil Palm; Flour Mills Nigeria Plc; an American Company called Fayus, and Saturn Farms, among others.

The Chief Executive Officer of Foremost Development Services Limited, an intermediary organization to Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Nigeria, the global body responsible for promoting responsible oil palm production, Alhaji Fatai Afolabi said the new feat is a reflection of the nuanced reforms by the Governor Obaseki-led administration to boost oil palm development.

According to him, “Today, Edo State is the number one oil palm producing State in Nigeria, contributing about 12 per cent to the aggregate oil palm production in Nigeria with the closest being Akwa-Ibom and Cross River State who are contributing between five to eight per cent.”

He added, “This is the progress the State has made between when Governor Obaseki made his commitment to develop oil palm and now.”

Following the success of phase one of the ESOPP Programme, the State Governor recently unveiled plans for the launch of phase 2 of the programme with an additional 47,000 hectares of land to be allocated to new and prospective oil palm investors in the State.