An expert in the Oil Palm sector, and Chief Research Officer at the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), Prof Omofomwan Isaac, has urged the government and the private sector to increase investment in the sector to bridge the production and consumption gap in the industry.
Omofomwan said Nigeria’s palm oil sector requires urgent and sustained financial investment to boost production and meet rising domestic demand, amid mounting concerns over price instability.
He made the call in an interview with journalists in Benin City, where he warned that the country’s palm oil market is under significant strain due to structural challenges spanning production, distribution, and market systems.
Citing recent research findings, he disclosed that between 2022 and 2025, the average price of palm oil in Nigeria doubled from ₦1.17 million to ₦2.38 million per ton, adding that the situation worsened in 2025 alone, with prices surging by over 50 per cent, highlighting the depth of the crisis.
According to him, “the persistent rise in prices is largely driven by inadequate domestic production. Despite Nigeria’s favourable ecological conditions for oil palm cultivation, output remains constrained by ageing plantations and the slow adoption of improved, high-yield planting materials.”
He stressed that without adequate financial investment to support large-scale replanting and the deployment of improved seedlings, Nigeria will continue to struggle to meet its growing demand for palm oil.
Prof Omofomwan also identified high transportation costs as a major contributor to rising prices, noting that poor infrastructure and inefficient logistics systems have created a wide price gap between southern producing states and northern consuming regions.
In addition, he said, “weak market coordination, limited transparency, fragmented price information, inadequate storage facilities, and speculative activities have made the market increasingly unpredictable for both producers and consumers.
“If current trends persist, palm oil prices could exceed ₦7.5 million per ton by 2030, and this will pose serious risks to food affordability and industrial competitiveness.”
To address the challenges, he outlined a comprehensive five-point strategy anchored on increased investment in production, infrastructure, and value chain development. Central to this, he said, is large-scale replanting using improved, climate-resilient oil palm varieties capable of significantly boosting productivity.
He further called for sustained investment in transport infrastructure to reduce distribution costs, alongside improved processing capacity and storage systems to minimise post-harvest losses and enhance efficiency.
