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Crop focus...
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African Palm (Elaeis guineensis)
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Palm oil (from the African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis) was long recognized in West African countries and among West African peoples it has long been in widespread use as a cooking oil. European merchants trading with West Africa occasionally purchased palm oil for use in Europe but as the oil was bulky and cheap palm oil remained rare outside West Africa. In the Asante Confederacy state-owned slaves built large plantations of oil palm trees while in the neighbouring Kingdom of Dahomey King Ghezo passed a law in 1856 forbidding his subjects from cutting down oil palms.
Palm oil became a highly sought-after commodity by British traders for use as an industrial lubricant for the machines of Britains Industrial Revolution as well as forming the basis of soap products such as Lever Brothers "Sunlight Soap" and the American Palmolive brand. By c.1870 palm oil constituted the primary export of some West African countries such as Ghana and Nigeria although this was overtaken by cocoa in the 1880s.
Palm was introduced to Java by the Dutch in 1848 and Malaysia (then the British colony of Malaya) in 1910 by Scotsman William Sime and English banker Henry Darby. The first plantations were mostly established and operated by British plantation owners such as Sime Darby. From the 1960s a major oil palm plantation scheme was introduced by the government with the main aim of eradicating poverty. Settlers were each allocated 10 acres of land (about 4 hectares) planted either with oil palm or rubber and given 20 years to pay off the debt for the land. The large plantation companies remained listed in London until the Malaysian government engineered their "Malaysianisation" throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
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Mission
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EnviroOne's goal is to promote sustainable living and
environmental stewardship.
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Our
Efforts
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EnviroOne's staff has visited
Africa (including Liberia and Sierra Leone) to promote clean energy production and
sustainable agriculture.
EnviroOne is raising funds and organizing efforts to assist with the Shoamokin Creek
River cleanup in Coal Township PA. This effort will assist with the reduction of
acid mine drainage (AMD) into the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay.
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