Palm Oil Production Tour

          I got these pictures from the first grade teacher.  She went on this tour the same day as the trade school tour.  Opportunities like these come up at a moment's notice sometimes and so without pre-planning it is hard to bring others along.  She told me about each picture and I did some reading on the Internet and found out more about the palm oil industry in Nigeria.
          Palm oil was first exported from this area in the early 19th Century.  Great Britain used much of the oil for candle making and as an industry lubricant so their colonies in West Africa set-up factories for processing it.  The tour guide said the factory pictured below is 200 years old.  It became too expensive to maintain so it was abandoned and the jungle has since taken it over. 

The palm oil industry was once the biggest export for Nigeria.  Due to corruption in the industry the whole production has nearly come to a standstill and sadly now Nigeria actually imports palm oil from Asia.  Local production has gone back to the primitive methods for only local use.

The road out to the farm which produces the palm oil and groundnuts.

The trail from the road.

The oil palm produce bright red palm fruits.  These fruits are normally the size of a plum.  Oil can be extracted both from the pulp of the fruit and the kernel inside. 

Equipment for extracting the oil from the pulp.

Piles of leftover dry pulp.

Further Refinement

Kernels from inside the palm fruit.

Shelled palm kernels.

Cleaning and refining the kernels.

Another refinement process.

Piles of product in various stages of production.

Palm oil is a common ingredient in Nigerian dishes.  It is used in cosmetics and medicines as well as
processed foods, chocolate, non-dairy creamers, and ice cream, and it is rich in beta-carotene, vitamin E, and HDL, or “good” cholesterol.



http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/home/1273788/palm_oil_the_hidden_ingredient_causing_an_ecological_disaster.html