Main Article Content
Abstract
Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) production has been essential in
addressing socio-economic challenges, particularly in countries such
as Indonesia, Malaysia, Honduras, Ghana, and Nigeria. For
instance, oil palm production has provided food among the rural
populations, creating job opportunities, generating income, hence
offering potential pathway for reducing rural poverty. In Malawi, oil
palm production is an old tradition practiced by the Nyakyusa
people, residing in Karonga District. These people have been
involved in producing crude palm oil and soap using indigenous
technologies that have been handed down over decades from
generation to generation. Despite these indigenes being involved in
this agricultural activity, the exploration of how this activity impact
their lives remain under researched. Using mixed method and
sequential explanatory design, with data collected through
questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussion, the
study examined the socio-economic benefits of oil palm production
on rural livelihood, citing Karonga district as area of case study. The
findings of the study revealed that through oil palm production,
rural farmers perceive this agricultural activity as crucial in
sustaining their livelihood as it provides cooking oil, creates once-off
job opportunities and generate income, hence meeting basic needs.
Also, though oil palm production sustains their livelihood, the study
revealed problems such as availability of markets, hindering the
progress of this agricultural activity. The study therefore recommends that to unlock the full potential of oil palm production,
the government through the Malawi Ministry of Agriculture should
help farmers to market their produce.
Article Details
Copyright (c) 2024 Noel Mweta, Alex Somuah-Obeng, John Windie Ansah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
An author who publishes in the Journal of Agri Socio Economics and Business agrees to the following terms:
Author retains the copyright and grants the journal the right of first publication of the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal
Submission of a manuscript implies that the submitted work has not been published before (except as part of a thesis or report, or abstract); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors. If and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the author(s) still hold the copyright and retain publishing rights without restrictions. For the new invention, authors are suggested to manage its patent before published. The license type is CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Journal Agri Socio-Economics and Business is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.