Support Sustainable Palm Oil!

Palm oil is the most commonly used vegetable oil in the world. More than 72 million metric tons of palm oil were produced in 2019. It’s a popular cooking oil and can be found in many everyday items including chocolates, biscuits, chips, shampoo, soap and detergent. Palm oil comes from the flesh and seed of the fruit of the oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis).

Although native to West Africa, most commercially grown oil palms are found in Indonesia and Malaysia – together they produce 85% of the world’s palm oil. The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in this region has had devastating social and environmental effects. Widespread deforestation has pushed animals like the orangutan, tiger, and Asian elephant to the brink of extinction, contributed to global climate change, and displaced local indigenous groups that rely on the forest for food and shelter.

Shortages of suitable land and recent bans on land clearing have caused palm oil producers to set up plantations in other countries, particularly countries in West and Central Africa.