MAKE SEED OILS. HERE’S WHY…

I remember when the prices of edible oils skyrocketed in an instant in my nation, Kenya.

Consumers were out of options since the big players in this sector have such an iron grip on the market.

Well, the government tried to intervene and to some extent, prices seemed to stabilize.

This was not without controversy involving inappropriate business behavior by some government officials – but that’s a subject for another day.

Thankfully, prices haven’t fluctuated wildly ever since, which brings me to two questions –

Firstly,? why are the big players in the edible oil sector maintaining a chokehold on this market?

Secondly, is it possible to decentralize production of edible oils?

And I’m deliberate in using PRODUCTION and not distribution.

The answer to the first question may be economic laws favoring the big players. These may include economies of scale which make costs of raw materials lower, good liquidity etc.

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But my interest lies in answering the second question.

CAN EDIBLE OIL PRODUCTION BE DECENTRALIZED?

As stated earlier, the Kenyan government is trying to facilitate affordable access to edible oils.

We’ve seen set up of oil ATMs in different parts of the country with varying levels of success.

This strategy is good but is still prone to price fluctuations because the oil producers are still in charge.

But what if the oil production process was to be decentralized to farmlands where the oil crops are being cultivated?

Production of edible oils from oil seeds takes place in two steps:

First the seeds are pressed in an oil pressing machine.

Secondly, the remaining seed cake (the leftovers) might be mixed with an organic solvent like hexane to dissolve and extract any remaining oil.

Now the first step is pretty straightforward.

But not step 2. Here, solvents being used to dissolve the oils need to be boiled off leaving the pristine oils.

But does the process get rid of all the solvents?

In other words, if we are to take a sample of edible oils from supermarket shelves and subject it to quality control checks, would we stumble on remnants of hexane or any other solvent used?

These are the issues that we are left to grapple with when it comes to the safety of some of these industrially derived seed and vegetable oils.

But the discussion here is about decentralizing oil production .

What if communities of farmers were to be brought together and encouraged to grow these oil crops…the sunflower, safflower, canola etc.

These farmers may form a cooperative (just like the ones for dairy, coffee and tea farmers).

With the help of the government, these cooperatives may be helped to acquire commercial oil pressing machines.

That way, after harvest of these oil crops, there’ll be value addition through the conversion of seeds to oil.

And this is besides the added benefit of consuming oil that has been extracted safely and out of the hands of an oligopoly bent on maximizing profits.

But for a moment let’s set aside the government…

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Social entrepreneurs have a golden opportunity in this space.

By investing about USD 1,000, one could purchase a medium sized oil pressing machine.

One could then contract a few farmers (or grow oil seed crops on some acreage).

The entrepreneur then purchases the seed harvest, presses the oil and sells.

That way, farmers are empowered, consumers are protected and employment is created.

It’s a win-win situation and not a zero-sum-game.

Originally posted on cleannovate blog