PLANTATION, MILLING AND REFINING ON 200,000 HECTARES OF TROPICAL LAND IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA.

INTRODUCTION-
(Nigerian Oil Palm Industry).

Context :
The production of palm oil in Nigeria in 2013 was 930,000 tons, significantly below the country’s estimated consumption of 1.4million tons. The majority of the palm oil in Nigeria comes from groves and smallholder plantations rather than industrial plantations, with about 80% of production from dispersed smallholders who harvest the semi-wild plants in the groves and process the oil palm using manual techniques. Dura and Tenera are the most cultivated specie varieties in the country. The Dura is a thick-shelled variety with a thin mesocarp. Tenera, a variety with a thicker mesocarp and a thinner shell, is more suitable for industrial and economic purposes, as it produces much more oil and has a gestation period of three to five years compared to the Dura breed with six to seven years. Groves and smallholder plantations are dominated by the Dura variety, with an estimated yield of 1-5 fresh fruit bunch (FFB)/ha /year and 6-10 FFB/ha/year respectively, while large industrial plantations utilize the improved Tenera variety, with an estimated yield of 12-19 FFB/ ha/year.
Major challenges facing the industry include  the use of unimproved seedlings,  difficulty in acquiring land due to the land tenure system, inefficient milling methods with poor oil extraction rates and, low levels of mechanization. These combined challenges reduce the competitiveness of locally produced crude palm oil (CPO) and influence high prices compared to imported CPO even with the 35% import tariff duty on imported CPO.

Opportunities :
Nigeria’s population, expected to reach 450 million by 2050, will drive continued demand for palm oil and  its derivatives. Although there are many companies involved in various aspects of the palm oil value chain (plantations, milling, refining, and distribution), the largest players in Nigeria are Presco, Okomu Oil and PZ-Wilmar.
According to NIFOR, the gross value of the palm oil production at plantation level is between N180-N250 billion annually. According to a Business Day newspaper article on Friday, February 20, 2015, a recent study from an independent research stated that an investment gap of N2 trillion is needed over the next 20 years for Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in oil palm production.

OUR PROPOSAL-
In our drive to contribute our output to the huge and ever-growing demand for crude palm oil(CPO) in the global market, our company "ROTOKI RESOURCES LTD(a Lagos-based agro and solid mineral resources outsourcing firm)" intends to undertake a project called "ROTOKI-DELTA PALM OIL PLANTATION AND MILL" in Delta State,Nigeria.
For the commencement of this project, we are planning to acquire and secure 100,000 hectares of land with Certificate of Occupancy(CofO) from Delta State Government on Public-Private Partnership(PPP) arrangement.

OUR CORE AIM-
Apart of a drive to contribute our output to global market as said earlier, this project is also aim to help reduce Nigeria's dependency on imported palm oil and ensure a supply of high-quality domestically produced palm oil, a basic commodity, at prices that even poor people could afford. Increased domestic production would also generate jobs for rural people and make it possible to diversify exports.

OUR AGENDA-
Our company intends to collaborate with Delta State Government in the move for a private-sector partnership that would bring technical expertise for plantation development and modern industrial refining methods that respect environmental safeguards and ensure a high-quality consumer products that comply with food safety standards.
In this partnership, small-scale plantations would be integrated with large-scale milling/processing, and small-scale producers would become part of the palm oil economy in the state.

OUR STRATEGY-
To achieve our goals, we plan to create a private-sector consortium in partnership with Delta State Government to be named "ROTOKI DELTA PALM OIL LIMITED (RODEPOL)", consisting of our firm "ROTOKI RESOURCES LTD" and your reputable firm, "NEW BRITAIN PALM OIL LTD".
Below are the expected roles of the consortium parties :-

* ROTOKI RESOURCES LTD shall be committed to facilitate the acquisition and security of 100,000 hectares of tropical land with Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) in partnership with Delta State Government on PPP arrangement.
Under this PPP arrangement, Delta State Government will clear the farmland and provide basic infrastructures such as roads, electricity and water and transport services to the plantation estate.
Part of our commitment is to provide palm oil nurseries for the plantation development. More so, our research indicates that Tenera (a variety with a thicker mesocarp and a thinner shell) is more suitable for industrial and economic purposes, as it produces much more oil and has gestation period of three to five years (as explained under introduction above). If our consortium could utilize the improved Tenera variety seedlings for our large industrial plantations, an estimated yield of 12-19 FFB/ha/year is certainly guaranteed.

* NEW BRITAIN PALM OIL LTD shall be committed to financing and undertaking the preparation of land for plantation, plantation development (in compliance with RSPO), milling facility (with the minimum capacity of 1,000 tonnes/day) and process/refining facility for the production of high-quality palm oil products.
The partnership of all the parties involved on this project, as planned, will bring a much large investment to the enterprise and achieve greater efficiency of scale.

OUR PROJECTION-
Based on our timely projection, the facilitating process of proposed 100,000 hectares of land acquisition and security with proper documentation from Delta State's PPP Office will take us about three months. While the land perimeter survey, dialogue and settlement with the traditional landowners, clearing of the whole land (in phases) and other community-related issues will take six months to be concluded.
Then, palm oil seeds growing will urgently commence at the same time when the preparations stated above are still going on.
The palm oil seeds will take a period of five to six months, under suitable weather condition, to germinate into mature nurseries. Preferably, improved Tenera seeds will be adopted.
Thereafter, the real planting will commence fully in three phases arrangement at the range of 40,000 hectares (phase 1), 30,000 hectares (phase 2) and 30,000 hectares (phase 3). While a state-of-the-art and environmentally-friendly palm oil milling and processing/ refining facilities will be constructed in a suitable and accessible location within the hosting community and will begin operation in 2020.
Meanwhile, the refinery will be using imported crude palm oil (CPO), but will begin to process oil from the plantation estate sometime in 2024/2025. Olutoki
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