Nigerian Palm Oil
Kayla King
Palm oil is an essential but invisible commodity that has infiltrated everyday life in a variety of products, especially food and toiletries. However, the majority of people are not aware of palm oil or its massive industry. The extent of most people’s knowledge about palm oil includes the detrimental effects it has on rainforests and orangutans in southeast Asia. The palm oil plant is not from southeast Asia, but originally from West Africa. Today, the industry is responsible for misery of women in the Edo state in Nigeria. In the past, Nigerian women were able to find success and progress with palm oil. This paper will discuss how their lives changed under British colonialism and the independent Nigerian state. The lasting legacy of colonialism and patriarchy in the palm oil industry fundamentally changed Nigerian lives, specifically the lives of women.
Oil palm originated in the rainforest area of West Africa, and the processing and production of palm oil occurred for centuries before any foreign involvement. However, the European industrial revolution at the turn of the nineteenth century resulted in an expanded palm oil trade: “The trade in palm oil arose because of an expanding demand, especially in Britain, for all sorts of fats and oils to be used for industrial lubrication and for the ‘new vogues’ of washing with soap and lighting with candles.” With the increasing demand for products that contain palm oil, European countries looked towards West Africa, specifically Nigeria, for supply. During this time of trade, Nigeria became the largest exporter of palm oil until the mid-20th century, displaying the colonial influence over palm oil production.
Before the expanded palm oil trade, the slave trade existed in West Africa. Some societies in West Africa, like the Anlo in Keta, had “constrained economic options [which] help to explain the enduring relevance of warfare, plunder and banditry, slaving and slavery.” When Akyempong writes, “constrained economic options,” he alludes to the scarce and infeasible land that made an agriculture based economy difficult. As a result, people continued slavery as a main resource for their economy. However, the British eventually banned the slave trade in West Africa. According to David Northrup, “in places where the slave trade was suppressed, people were deprived of the mainstay of their export economy . . . alternatives had to be found to provide an exchange medium against the imported European goods the inhabitants had come to rely on.” The banning of the slave trade created a crisis among West Africans. They had to look for a replacement export that could benefit their economy. Societies transitioned from the slave trade towards agricultural exports, like palm oil. Palm oil production was the women’s domain in the “dual sex system” in which women had integral roles in political and economic spheres. Subsequently, palm oil became a lucrative commodity in both Africa and Europe: “In 1853 palm oil emerg[ed] as the leading export in the Gold Coast.” The banishment of the slave trade resulted in a growing palm oil industry in Nigeria that continued for decades.
While colonial policy expanded the palm oil industry in Nigeria, it also impacted gender relations. Before colonialism, women found freedom in palm oil trade as they divided labor and created role specialization between men and women. However, with Europe’s patriarchal ideals, Nigerian women lost their essential role in the political and economic society:
colonial officials often emphasized a patriarchal ideology, creating new institutions based on European notions of gender, which often led to new gender and class relations in the colonized society. These institutions contrasted with pre-colonial systems, transforming the roles women had previously played in the political economy of African societies.
Europe’s patriarchal values also meant they valued male labor and cash crop production more than women’s, despite exploiting both types of labor under colonial policy. Overall, because of these patriarchal views, women lost the progress and freedom they previously had.
An example of women’s underdevelopment in Nigeria is seen with the Aba Women’s Rebellion. In 1929, the government introduced taxation in Nigerian provinces. Rumors spread through markets where women did petty trading and sold palm-oil that the taxation of men would extend to women. Margery Perham explains how the women felt angered and dismayed because “[they] depend upon [their] husbands, [they] cannot buy food or clothes [themselves] and how shall [they] get money to pay tax?” Compared to men’s roles in production and exports, women had smaller roles and less income. Women had to depend on their husbands; this contrasted with their lives before colonization. As a result, “women ... revolted, apparently fearing that the small margins in their business would not support a tax.” Women poured from the countryside into Oloko to protest outside of the warrant chief Okugo’s house. This instance was just the beginning, as news spread outside Oloko to other provinces in Nigeria. In the Ibo division, women dressed in sackcloths, their faces covered with charcoal, and their heads bound with ferns as they burned the Native Court and looted the European store and clerks’ houses. Perham says “they declared that the district officer was born of a woman, and as they were women they were going to see him.” Police arrived and as the women ran towards them, the police opened fire, killing 18 women and wounding 19 more. Another shooting occurred the following day at Opobo, killing 32 women as they protested against traders and military officers. The Aba Women’s Rebellion is an example of how the colonial government’s suppression and misrepresentation of women caused women greater harm.
During World War II, the war efforts increased the demand for palm oil from Nigeria. Emergency measures declared by the British allowed palm oil to become one of the major commodities procured by the British as they became the sole export designation for Nigerian oil palm. To maximize production to meet increasing demands abroad, compulsory labor extended into Nigeria. Britain’s patriarchal values divided the occupational roles based on gender. Men would climb and cut oil palm while the women processed and traded. As a result, “in Nigeria’s Benin Province, the export production of oil palm products was the exclusive domain of women.” However, the money from the sales went back to the women’s husbands. With gender defined roles, women lost the control they one had over their own labor and they could not afford the latest technology for efficient processing. They had to work harder for longer hours using cruder methods. The colonial policies established during the mid-20th century created and sustained Nigerian women’s exploitation and underdevelopment in the palm oil industry.
From the mid-20th century to now, the palm oil industry competitors in Malaysia and Indonesia have since surpassed Nigerian production. Many say that the policies and infrastructure the colonial government created ultimately led to the fall of the palm oil industry in Nigeria. Others say that it was a mixture of not only colonial governmental policies but also environmental factors, like lack of rainfall. Independent Nigeria is fifth in the world for palm oil production, and is still falling behind other countries. In order to revive their failing industry and stop their dependency on petroleum, “Nigeria is supporting operators to buy quality and up-to-date seedlings and set up new plantations and mills.” The Nigerian government is allowing and funding companies like Okomu to harvest and produce palm oil. In comparison, smaller farmers are desperate for funding from the government, but receive little to no aid. Looking at production, bigger companies make up only 30% of local production while smaller farmers make up 70%. The contrast between product output and funding received from the government displays the continuing exploitation of local workers in Nigeria that began under colonial rule.
Companies like Okomu bring problems not only for smaller farmers but also for women. Okomu was established in the 1970s as a federal government project with the goal of restoring palm oil production in Nigeria. According to their website, Okomu’s mission statement is “to be Nigeria’s leading agro-business, through the efficient and effective management of our various plantations by a highly motivated workforce, working in harmony with our other stakeholders, and continuously returning favourable results to our shareholders.” In their mission statement, Okomu emphasizes investors, instead of the local communities who are directly affected by Okomu’s presence. The World Rainforest Movement, an international initiative that aims “to support struggles that defend the collective rights and self-determination of indigenous peoples … who live in and with the forest over their territories, lives and cultures,” maintain that Okomu Oil Palm Company destroyed around four villages and evicted people from their lands in order to produce palm oil. The consequences include loss of personal belongings, documents, as well as victim displacement. As a result, tensions rose between the company and the affected communities.
Hajaratu Abdullahi, from Community Forest Watch in Nigeria, a non-governmental organization, discusses the effects companies like Okomu have on communities like hers. Abdullahi states, “since Okomu arrived in my community, there has been a lot of suffering for the women, because we have no more freedom of our own … Going and coming, there’s no freedom any longer [and] they can come into your farm without notification and destroy everything you planted, palm trees, your crops.” Okomu and other big companies have disproportionate control over villages in their domain. Under their authority, women lack certain freedoms and opportunities just as they did under colonial rule in the early 20th century. In Abdullahi’s community, women cannot go to the forest to gather herbs or food for their families, leading to food scarcity and malnutrition. In response to the devastating actions of Okomu, Community Forest Watch is donating food and other essentials to displaced communities. Some of the items include rice, beans, clothes, mosquito nets, and toiletries. Despite Nigeria’s independence from British control, the Nigerian people, and women specifically, are still exploited and harmed because of palm oil production.
Throughout the history of the palm oil industry, British colonialism and the patriarchy have had lasting effects on the Nigerian people, especially women. Before colonial rule in Nigeria, women had some economic and political independence. However, as Nigeria fell under colonial control, the British undervalued women’s roles and then exploited their labor. The legacy of colonialism continues today as major companies control and deprive communities of their freedom, and dismiss women’s roles all together. Over the history of palm oil, women have been integral to the production, processing, and trading of palm oil; however, they barely receive recognition. Therefore, colonialism and the patriarchy still have roots in independent Nigeria, and the mistreatment of women continues today.
Endnotes
Northrup, David. “The Compatibility of the Slave and Palm Oil Trades in the Bight of Biafra.” The Journal of African History 17, no. 3 (1976): 8. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/180699
Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku. Between the Sea & The Lagoon: An Eco-Social History of the Anlo of Southeastern Ghana, c. 1850 to Recent Times. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2001. 50
Northrup, David. “The Compatibility of the Slave and Palm Oil Trades in the Bight of Biafra.” The Journal of African History 17, no. 3 (1976): 3. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/180699
Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku. Between the Sea & The Lagoon: An Eco-Social History of the Anlo of Southeastern Ghana, c. 1850 to Recent Times. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2001. 60
Korieh, Chima J. “The Invisible Farmer? Women, Gender, and Colonial Agricultural Policy in the Igbo Region of Nigeria, c. 1913-1954.” African Economic History, no. 29 (2001): 119-20. https://doi.org/10.2307/3601709
Perham, Margery. “Riot or Rebellion? The Women’s Market Rebellion of 1929: AHA.” American Historical Association. Accessed November 30, 2021.https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources-for-historians/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/through-the-lens-of-history-biafra-nigeria-the-west-and-the-world/the-colonial-and-pre-colonial-eras-in-nigeria/the-womens-market-rebellion-of-1929
Gilbert, Erik, and Jonathan T. Reynolds. 2012. Africa in World History:From Prehistory to the Present. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson. 308
Perham, Margery. “Riot or Rebellion? The Women’s Market Rebellion of 1929: AHA.” American Historical Association. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources-for-historians/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/through-the-lens-of-history-biafra-nigeria-the-west-and-the-world/the-colonial-and-pre-colonial-eras-in-nigeria/the-womens-market-rebellion-of-1929
Ayokhai, Fred Ekpe F., and Bwashi Rufai. “West African Women and the Development Question in the Post–World War II Economy: The Experience of Nigeria’s Benin Province in the Oil Palm Industry.” Journal of Global South Studies 34, no. 1 (2017): 75. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48517875
Team, WION Web. “Nigeria Looks to Revive Ailing Palm Oil Sector.” WION. WION, October 3, 2021. https://www.wionews.com/world/nigeria-looks-to-revive-ailing-palm-oil-sector-417839
Okomu Oil Palm Company. “The Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc.” Nigeria. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.okomunigeria.com/
Abdullahi, Hajaratu. “Nigeria: Okomu’s Oil Palm Plantations Bring Misery for Women Living in Their Vicinity.” Interview. Water Rainforest Movement. November 16, 2018. https://wrm.org.uy/articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin/section1/nigeria-okomus-oil-palm-plantations-bring-misery-for-women-living-in-their-vicinity/
Abdullahi, Hajaratu. “Nigeria: Okomu’s Oil Palm Plantations Bring Misery for Women Living
in Their Vicinity.” Interview. Water Rainforest Movement. November 16, 2018. https://wrm.org.uy/articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin/section1/nigeria-okomus-oil-palm-plantations-bring-misery-for-women-living-in-their-vicinity/