The largest agricultural company in Sierra Leone which is growing oil palm and producing Crude Palm Oil (CPO),Socfin Agricultural Company has joined the prestigious group of companies around the world as a certified member of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
The long and arduous road of ensuring compliance has taken several years and is achieved on the back of the ISO 14001/2015 certification for Environmental Management obtain 4 years ago.
RSPO is a rigorous certification carried out by RSPO international audit firms that ensures all elements from land acquisition using the FPIC system are followed, it verifies and ensures the social elements are adhered to as well as all labor and employment compliance are met together with the strict environmental obligations including adherence to zero deforesting.
Country Director for Socfin Agricultural Company, Gerben Haringsma who established the company in 2011 said the RSPO certification demonstrates to the wider public and institutions who frequently criticize the agricultural company for land and environmental noncompliance should bow their head in shame because their arguments are false and unjustified.
“We are striving to become better to contributesin the Sierra Leone’s economy by following international best practiceprinciples by respecting all aspects of social and environmental policies,” he Country Director was quoted as saying.
However, the General Manager of the company who has managed the company since 2012 overseeing the successful implementation of an investment of over US$170 million to where it stands today, was elated and delighted in seeing the fulfillment and endorsement by RSPO.
The agriculturalcompany produced over 52,300mt of crude palm oil (CPO) which is surplus to Sierra Leone’s requirements of around 40,000mt per annum.
On the back of the Socfin investment, two local refineries were established and in 2021 together they produced over 48,000mt, satisfying the entire local demand for cooking oil as well as having surplus for export.
One refinery has just begun to produce margarine that is now entering the Freetown market removing the need to import substitutes such as mayonnaise which is frequently used.
The production of the Palm Oil raw material supplied by Socfin together with the downstream value addition carried out by the Jolaks and Kissy refineries and the exportation of surplus products is estimated to have saved Sierra Leone over US$90 million in foreign exchange revenue.
Socfin continues to be a leader in the agricultural field and a significant contributor to the growth of Sierra Leone.