Faustin Ehouman

Sophiatou Colliee, the oil palm program manager at Solidaridad, dreams of a sector that thrives with the contribution of women and young people. (Dr) A study on the inclusion of women and young people in the oil palm sector in Côte d'Ivoire was funded by Solidaridad West Africa and carried out by the National Rural Development Support Agency (Anader). This, within the framework of the regional palm oil production program in West Africa (Swapp II) financed by the Netherlands and implemented by Solidaridad West Africa. Program that aims to help the large-scale adoption of sustainable intensification of oil palm cultivation and palm fruit processing through the active participation of SMEs. The results, which were officially presented on December 4 at the headquarters of Firca (Interprofessional Fund for Agricultural Research and Advice (Firca) in Deux-Plateaux, highlight the very low access of women and young people to land as well as production equipment, while greater access of this segment of the population to arable land would have a strong positive impact on the sector. This is essentially what Dr Miaman Koné, director of studies and of the consultancy of Anader, who presented the results. Recommendations He then made several recommendations, among others, to facilitate the inclusion of gender and youth in the oil palm sector through advocacy and awareness raising; ensure the anchoring gender at the institutional level of support and regulatory bodies; promoting participation, improving artisanal soap and palm oil production and the representation of women and young people in cooperatives and set up an institution to finance the activities of young people and women.

For Sophiatou Colliee, the manager of the oil palm program at Solidaridad, the results of the study should serve as data in the sustainability and inclusion process undertaken by the bodies of the sector, including the Interprofessional Association of the palm oil sector. oil (Aiph) which was well represented at the workshop. “The vision is to lead to the consideration of gender and young people in each link of the oil palm sector in Côte d'Ivoire. This segment of the population is a center of interest for all the institutions and also for Solidaridad. It is the key lever in the socio-economic development of any nation when it is considered, highlighted and taken into account in its specificities”, explained Sophiatou Colliee.

The representative of the executive secretary of Aiph, Kouamé Kouassi Lazare, meanwhile, noted that gender inclusion is a priority axis of the action of the interprofession. According to him, the study that has been carried out will make it possible to measure the impact of the actions already carried out for the development of the sector.

The oil palm sector supports at least two million people in Côte d'Ivoire, which ranks second in Africa in terms of production behind Nigeria. Globally, Côte d'Ivoire ranks 9th. The sector promotes 200,000 regular jobs for a contribution of 3.13% to the country's GDP.