A new report, Palm Oil Barometer 2025: Procurement for Prosperity has called for a fundamental shift in global palm oil procurement practices.
The report emphasized the need for equitable value distribution to support smallholder farmers in West Africa.
It said oil palm remained a vital crop for food security, a source of income for millions, especially smallholder farmers across West Africa, and has the potential to help farming families emerge from poverty within a single generation.
The 2025 Palm Oil Barometer, developed by Solidaridad and co-signed by various smallholder representatives and experts, identified critical imbalances in the current market, where smallholders often receive a disproportionately small share of profits despite their significant contributions.
In Ghana, smallholders manage approximately 81 per cent of the nation’s oil palm area, yet many faced low yields and limited access to markets.
Similarly, in Nigeria, smallholders contribute to 80% of production but struggle with outdated processing methods and insufficient infrastructure.
The report said Côte d’Ivoire’s smallholders manage 73 per cent of oil palm areas, while in Sierra Leone, small-scale farmers account for about 70% of production, often relying on wild palm groves.
Meanwhile, West Africa consumes more palm oil than it produces, and many countries depend on imports.
“This imbalance, compounded by systemic barriers, limits smallholder farmers’ ability to increase incomes and contribute to national food security,” it said.
Mr Muthalir Ramasamy Chandran, Chairman at IRGA.AG and Advisor to Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, said, “Governments and industry in collaboration with sustainability certification platforms, need to adopt a new business model for engagement, organizational development, and capacity building, that supports improved access to inputs and markets for independent smallholder farmers.”
The core finding of the 2025 Palm Oil Barometer was that value was inequitably distributed throughout the supply chain, leaving smallholders at a loss in their efforts to produce sustainably.
Additionally, farmers struggle to invest in practices that support resilience in the face of climate change. Smallholder farmers in Africa are reliant on precarious incomes that are subject to volatile prices and extreme weather conditions exacerbated by climate change.
Michael Oppong, an oil palm farmer in the Eastern region said, “Oil palm production in our communities faces serious challenges.”
He said most farmers lacked access to proper tools, equipment, and infrastructure, which leads to low yields and poor processing capacity.
He said even with training; our incomes are too low to invest in improvements. This keeps productivity stagnant and prevents the sector from growing.
“We need consistent, targeted support to break through these barriers. With the right help, we can grow stronger and contribute meaningfully to the global palm oil market,” he added
He said the consistent underinvestment and lack of equitable value distribution were a threat to the entire sector and without access to better financing, technical assistance, and sustainable farming incentives, small farmers often resort to short-term survival strategies that can contribute to environmental degradation.
Additionally, land tenure insecurity continues to create challenges, limiting smallholders’ ability to invest in long-term sustainability and discouraging compliance with stricter environmental regulations.
The 2025 Palm Oil Barometer advocated a transition from current sourcing practices to a “Procurement for Prosperity” approach.
This means moving beyond sustainability certifications to ensure that palm oil procurement has a positive impact on suppliers, particularly independent smallholders, centered on fairer trading practices and genuine partnership.
The report outlined four core principles for Procurement for Prosperity: companies integrate procurement practices that recognize independent smallholders in their overall strategy and decision-making processes and fair pricing and payment terms must recognize and reward sustainable practices.
This includes understanding farmers’ living income gaps and working to close them.
Others are partnerships and collaboration across the supply chain that incorporate farmers’ perspectives and include them in decision-making processes, including the development of pricing mechanisms and downstream companies need to support suppliers by investing in organizational strengthening, technical capabilities, and access to finance.
Madam Marieke Leegwater, Senior Policy Advisor, Solidaridad Europe, said, “Simply demanding sustainable production is insufficient.”
She said companies needed to commit to an inclusive value chain that recognized and integrated independent smallholder farmer perspectives and voices and enabled sustainable production by paying fair prices that make a living income possible.
“As new regulations, like the EUDR, come into effect, we need a balanced approach that addresses deforestation by large-scale plantations, while ensuring human rights and smallholder inclusion to create a stable supply chain with reduced risk,” she said.
The Palm Oil Barometer 2025 provides concrete recommendations for value chain actors, multi-stakeholder initiatives, public policymakers, and the financial sector as they work to advance smallholder inclusivity and create a more resilient palm oil industry.
Every actor has a role to play in ensuring fair value distribution and supporting the prosperity of independent smallholders who are critical to the sector’s future.
