This story is related to the landscape initiative “Okomu Forest”, and originally published on SourceUp.
Today marks another milestone for the Okomu Smallholder Project, a key initiative under the NISCOPS 2 program. Launched in Q2 through a strategic partnership between IDH and Okomu Oil Palm Company (OOPC), the project aims to reach an additional 2,500 oil palm farmers, boost productivity, and promote deforestation-free palm oil production within the Okomu landscape.
One major challenge identified during the first phase was limited access to extension education, primarily due to the shortage of government and private sector extension officers. To address this gap, the partnership recruited and trained 14 Community Mobilizers (Village Extension Agents) to complement government and private sector efforts in delivering training on best management practices and sustainable oil palm production. This initiative is to enhance access to vital extension education for oil palm farmers under the project.
The impact is already visible. Daniel Akpofure, 31, an oil palm farmer from Iguehahon Community and one of the mobilizers, shared his success story:
“Access to extension education transformed our family oil palm farm productivity—from 1.5 tons before joining the project to an average of 8 tons per hectare. Coupled with the guaranteed offtake market from OOPC, my father expanded our farm from 4 hectares to over 20 hectares. Today, we are major Fresh Fruit Bunch suppliers to OOPC—a key reason I became a community mobilizer, committed to helping other farmers experience the same benefits”
With this milestone achieved, the project is confident that the challenge of extension service access is being put to rest. The next focus is improving access to finance to scale adoption and support farm maintenance.
The training concluded with commitments from mobilizers to disseminate knowledge, promote sustainable practices, and conserve natural resources within the landscape.