After Asia, palm oil faces the backlash in Africa

Yaounde, Cameroon

PALM oil's lower cost has made it popular in commercial food production, but after being blamed for deforestation in Asia, palm oil plantations are now getting a similar rap in Africa.

The sheer scale of land required is having an impact in Gabon, Cameroon and the Congo Basin, environmentalists say.

With financing coming from American, European and Asian agri-businesses, palm bunches are cultivated then cut from trees and sent to factories where oil is extracted by hot pressing.

But the production process accelerates deforestation, contributes to climate change, and threatens fauna and flora in vulnerable areas, opponents argue.

However, the companies say that palm oil is not only less expensive than soya or sunflower oil but requires much l…