OIL PALM DEVELOPMENT

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The Project seeks to reverse the trend of rapidly declining production of palm oil and to forestall the need for Zaire to import this commodity in the near future. The Project provides for the planting of 12,215 ha of oil palm, renewing the equipment of three oil mills, procuring earth moving equipment, trucks, tractors, staff vehicles; constructing or repairing staff and workers housing, schools, clinics; and technical assistance and training. The Project also provides for feasibility studies and pilot programs for the development of smallholders cultivation to raise the standard of living and increase the agricultural production of the rural population in the Project areas. The major risk facing the Project is the shortage of plantation workers due principally to the inadequate level of incomes they secure from present levels of wages. Their provision with supplementary income earning opportunities from small scale cultivation, the increase in wages, the improvement of social services and housing, and the mechanization of land clearing operations in some of the Project areas are expected to reduce this risk to a minimum.