On our drive south towards Tana today, we stopped at an organic palm oil plantation. Our tour guide, Joelle, first led us through the actual plantation and explained the various plants they utilize to be fully organic. Along with growing oil palm trees, they plant a vine called poranea to kill invasive plant species that would otherwise require chemicals to destroy. The plantation also uses some of the agroforestry techniques we learned about like using a gliresidia tree to both support and shade vanilla vines. We saw a woman stripping raffia leaves, getting to the strong fiber underneath (see pic!) After Joelle let us try some fresh coconut milk, we put on hard hats and vests and he led us into the palm oil factory. Every hour, 2 kilos of palm oil is made by machines that press the fruit and squeezes the oil out. The oil is sent to Switzerland, from where it is then distributed. There’s a control center where a head chemist checks the oil to ensure its quality. The factory overall is self-sustaining, meaning that banches are used to fuel the machines and pigs eat the waste.
