Traditional Palm Oil Production

Palm oil is used by the majority of households in Cameroon, it is relatively cheap in comparison to vegetable oil and it is a common ingredient used in cooking many traditional dishes in the country.

Industrial production of the oil is not able to meet all needs, hence additional amounts are produced by traditional methods in rural areas, such production processes differ from place to place.

For example people from the Ambelle clan put in a lot of effort in order to produce palm oil. The clan is found in the widikum sub-division of the North-west province of Cameroon, it comprises of ten villages.

To produce palm oil, they utilise an age-old method which involves constructing a pit with stone. The pit is usually about 2m long, 100cm wide and 125cm deep. A hole is created on one of the sides to allow water to pass through. Oil is extracted from palm fruits by placing them in the pit and crushing them under foot.

http://www.socyberty.com/Economics/Traditional-Palm-Oil-Production.59669