The Sustainable West African Palm Oil Programme (SWAPP) is implemented by Solidaridad West Africa with joint funding from the Netherlands and the Swiss Government. The Phase two (2) of the programme, SWAPP II as a sequel to SWAPP I (2012 – 2016), focuses on large-scale adoption of sustainable oil palm intensification and processing of Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) within the West African SME sector through active private sector participation.
The SWAPP II (2017-2020) among many other objectives seeks to identify plausible ways to de-risk financing in the SME oil palm sector, so as to free public funds to be used as commercial financing for scaling up.
The Ghanaian Oil Palm industry is saddled with lack of capital investments, inadequate infrastructure, slow technology adoption and unavailability of technical competency skills.
Recognizing these constraints, the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) identifies the SWAPP II programme as a key opportunity to address the enumerated challenges through innovation, policy and institutional partnerships towards achieving a shift in traditional technology utilization, community engagement, private sector collaboration and pursuit of transformative technology, in order to achieve sustainable oil palm production and processing.
Recognizing the rounding up of the SWAPP II, the field trip which was undertaken between Sunday Otcber 10, 2021 to Saturday October 16, 2021, sought to present opporutntiy for TCDA to familiarize itself with the programme and identify success areas for scaling up for a transformed Ghanaian Oil Palm Industry.
The Team comprised of
1. Hon William A. Quaittoo, Chief Executive Officer, TCDA
2. Nicholas Issakah, SWAPP II Programme Manager, Solidaridad
3. Patrick Zeal, Acting Director of Operations, TCDA
Covering five (5) regions namely Western, Central, Eastern, Ashanti and Bono Regions, the team visited the following groups and institutions;
1. Oil Palm Plantation sites
2. Offices of District and Municipal Department of Agriculture
3. Artisanal Processing sites
4. Business Advisory Centers
5. The Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana (OPDAG)
6. Technical Institutions
7. Fabrications centers
8. Onfarm services providers
9. community nurseries
10. Rural financing institutions
11. Farmer groups and associations
12. Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)
The CEO commended the SWAPP 2 programme and promised to rally the private sector and mobilize public support to consolidate the gains made and upscale the results identified
