'I can't get out': Farmers feel the pressure as Ecuador's palm oil sector grows

[Judi Lynn]

BY KIMBERLEY BROWN ON 8 AUGUST 2018
Mongabay Series: Global Palm Oil

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Jorge Jurado has been farming oil palm on Ecuador’s coast for almost 20 years, and has seen the industry go through many changes. But over the last few years, he and hundreds of other small-scale farmers have been hit by two major plagues: abnormally low market prices for palm oil over the past five years, and a deadly disease that has killed thousands of hectares of oil palm crops in the country.

“Those who carry all the weight is the farmer,” said Jurado, who in addition to farming oil palm also works another a full-time job in a neighboring city as an English tutor in order to provide for his family.

Palm oil is one of the most common vegetable oils in the world, found in everything from cosmetics, certain fabrics, and almost 50 percent of everything in your local grocery store. Ecuador is the second-largest producer of palm oil in Latin America (only behind Colombia), and sixth largest in the world – although its output doesn’t reach anywhere near that of top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, which together produce around 85 percent of the world’s palm oil supply.

Oil palm is an important part of Ecuador’s agricultural economy, particularly in the La Concordia portion of the province of Santo Domingo de Los Tsáchilas, where Jurado lives. The region has long been known as the heart of Ecuador’s palm industry, since it was here that the first seeds were planted over 60 years ago.

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An established oil palm plantation in Ecuador’s province of Esmeraldas. Photo by Jonatan Rosas

More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/i-cant-get-out-farmers-feel-the-pressure-as-ecuadors-palm-oil-sector-grows/