ZAMPALM General Manager David Subakanya has urged more local Zambian farmers to venture into growing of palm oil trees that are used for extraction of palm oil as there is market for the product as well as competitive prices for the produce.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times –ZBT, ZAMPALM General Manger said over the years, Zambia has been importing the crude palm oil as there are less farmers engaging in this type of farming when there is an existing deficit.
He said this is so because what is being produced is not yet reached even half of the required threshold where you can stop importing adding that the quantities are still low. Subakanya said farmers should therefore consider taking advantage and start growing the trees to get income as well as contribute to cutting on the importation of crude palm oil.
He said Palm oil has a lot of opportunities as it’s extracted from a very productive crop, it offers a far greater yield at a lower cost of production than other vegetable oils.
The Zampalm GM further golf ZBT that what is good about this type of farming is in compliance with the environmental necessities as instead of cutting trees you plant more trees. The harvest is also on a continued basis as opposed to annual planting when compared to other Agro production processes.
Located in Kanchiya District of Muchinga Province, ZAMPALM farm has started a journey to reduce crude palm oil importation as they are producing about 3,900 litters and have the target of hitting 20, 000 liters to contribute to about 80% import substitution of the crude palm oil.
Subakanya told ZBT that the price of crude palm oil is market determined, it’s also determined by the world demand, which should encourage more farmers to venture into this kind of farming and create business opportunities and the much needed jobs in the country.
