Cultivating Sustainability - Empowering Smallholders in Sierra Leone

For nearly two decades, the RSPO partnership has been actively supporting smallholders in the oil palm industry to become more sustainable through certification, with concrete initiatives aimed at mobilising training, engagement, smallholder credits, and funding to help smallholders participate more effectively in global value chains.
Through collaboration, we are continuing to see an increase in the number of independent smallholders being certified in all major grower nations. The African continent is home to two of these nations - Ghana and Sierra Leone.
In July 2021, the Ngoyaï Gbaayegie Group in Sierra Leone, became the very first oil palm independent smallholder group in Africa to become certified against the RSPO Independent Smallholder (ISH) Standard. They are the single biggest certified smallholder group in Sierra Leone, with 4,983 members now in full compliance with the RSPO’s Standards. In May 2022, a second smallholder group in Ghana, the Golden Star Oil Palm Farmers Association, followed suit.
Our Members and Smallholders share how certification, training and funding have helped them raise yields, improve living standards, and access trade. These are their stories.