Historical Values and Colonial Export Policies of Oil Palm Produce in Colonial Times: Ekiti Land in Focus (1900-1939)

This paper examines the historical values and colonial export policies in regard to oil palm production among the Ekiti people within the colonial years of 1900 and 1939. Cultivation of oil palm serves as a means of livelihood for many rural families and indeed the farming culture of millions of people in the part of the country. The reference to oil palm as a crop of multiple value underscores its historical and economic importance among the people of south western Nigeria as far back as 1900s. The history of oil palm production in Africa dates back to pre-colonial periods and the commercialization of palm oil and palm kernel with the Europeans since the nineteenth century assert the strong economic importance of the product to the relationship that existed between Africans and Europeans. Hence, this research historicise and outline the basic colonial policies which drives the production of palm oil and palm kernel in the early years of 1900s as well as the hidden benefits of such policies either to the colony or metropolis. The work relies on both primary and secondary sources and employs both descriptive and analytic methods.