Local Oil Palm Producing woman proud of her work, says the activity has impacted her life

By: J. Mason Kollie |Lofa County Correspondent

Kortulahun Town,Lofa County-Monday,May 05,2025-Mary Kpana Koholo says producing red palm oil,otherwise known as “Torbogie” has had a positive impact on her everyday livelihood.

Ms.Koholo made this known during an interview with journalist Mason Kollie of the Rural Reporters Network on May 03, 2025 in regards to how making ‘Torbogie Oil’ is impacting she and her children life in Kortulahun Town, Wulukoha Clan Kolahun District.

“Working in the pit have impacted my life, “said Ms. Koholo;a resident of Kortulahun Town, Wulukoha Clan.

According to her, this line of business has  been a source of blessing during this time.

“My brother, thanks for coming, this is something that I’m doing to feed my children and the family. We prepare the ‘Tobogie Oil’ and send it to the market for sale and we making good money from it” Ms. Kpana Koholo said during the  interview with the Rural Reporter Network.

She added that there is a palm farm that is operated by her family and this is where they normally produce oil,which includes ‘Tobogie Oil’ and also ‘Water oil’. The farm contaied both “Makeno” and ordinary palm where they normally do their oil production for the market.

” At this time, most of the palm trees are ripe so we work at the pit almost every day to produce more ‘Tobogie’ and ‘Water oil’,” Ms. Koholo said.

She expressed difficulty in transporting their products to the City for marketing.

“It is very hard to take our oil from the village to the City because of the bad road conditions and with the motorcycles;it is a challenge for us. However, I got more palm production area in the pit that we can supply more for marketing ” Ms.Koholo concluded.

According to  her , the production of ‘Tobogie Oil’ and ‘Water oil’ have enable her to send her children to school, built a house and the farm is still producing oil.

Currently,Ms. Kpana Koholo is still recruiting more young women to learn about making oil in the pit in her local community.

Presently, there are more than 10 women working in the pit alongside her and they all producing oil for the community but are also marketing it.

Ms.Koholo,who is in her late 40s, spoke to our correspondent over the weekend in Kortulahun Town, Wulukoha Clan Kolahun District.

Notably,the importance of the Palm trees and their fruits cannot be over emphasized especially where we live. Grown only in the tropics, the oil palm tree produces high-quality oil used primarily for cooking in developing countries. It is also used in food products, detergents, cosmetics and, to a small extent, biofuel.

For instance in developed countries such as the United States of America, palm oil is a small ingredient in the diet, but more than half of all packaged products Americans consume contain palm oil—it is found in lipstick, soaps, detergents and even ice cream.

Furthermore, palm oil is a very productive crop. It offers a far greater yield at a lower cost of production than other vegetable oils. Global production of and demand for palm oil is increasing rapidly. Plantations are spreading across Africa, Asia and Latin America. But such expansion comes at the expense of tropical forests—which form critical habitats for many endangered species and a lifeline for some human communities.

More importantly, many of the approximately 2,800 known species of palms are economically important. Palms furnish food, shelter, clothing, timber, fuel, building materials, fibres, starch, oils, waxes, wines, and a host of minor products for indigenous populations in the tropics.

 Most particularly for us here in Liberia and Africa at large, the Elaeis guineensis (African oil palm), occurring in western and central Africa, grows to a height of 18 m or more. It bears black, oval-shaped fruit in clusters of 200 to 300. Palm oil is obtained from the fruit coat and kernel oil from the seed.

Edited: Jesefu Morris Keita| Editor-In-Chief