Teams4U Sierra Leone is taking a stride towards independence.
Teams4U Sierra Leone has set up a sustainable palm kernel oil business to help fund its projects. Helga Sellu has assembled a team that will process palm kernels to produce palm kernel oil (used in cooking and cosmetics) and palm kernel cake (used in animal food).
This will provide a boost to industry and farming in the area and reduce waste. Palm kernels are a waste product leftover from making palm oil. Farmers are delighted that we can buy this waste product from them. In the future, we plan to create a cooperative of palm kernel sellers, so we can support farmers to farm more sustainably and reward sustainable farming practices with a higher buying price.
The business has been up and running since January, and we are excited for the financial sustainability and independence that this could bring to Teams4U Sierra Leone.
“I am so happy that Teams4U is investing in such initiatives in my country. This business has so much to contribute to the socio-economic development of Sierra Leone. It promotes food security, creates employment for youth, empowers rural women, and enhances sustainable agriculture.
These are among some of the major challenges that Sierra Leone is faced with. I am so proud to be part of this Teams4U.”
Helga Sellu, Country Director Teams4U Sierra Leone.
Our supporters may be concerned hearing that we are supporting a palm kernel oil business. We would like to reassure supporters that this will not contribute to environmental degradation.
- Palm oil production is damaging when vegetation is cleared to make way for large palm tree plantations, which are subsequently abandoned 5-10 years later. It is the farming methods that are damaging, not palm trees themselves. In Sierra Leone, palm trees are a very common native tree. The business buys palm kernels from small-scale subsistence farms, where palm trees are no more damaging than any other crop.
- The business makes oil using palm kernels, a waste product leftover from making palm oil. There is no increased planting of palm trees involved.
- We will support farmers to farm using more sustainable methods and reward sustainable farming practices.