Agriculture for agro-industry

Industrial-scale farming is expanding rapidly in the Guinean forests of West Africa, producing palm oil, rubber, cocoa, coffee as well as industrial crops of sugar cane, pineapple, banana and others.

Despite increasing yields over the years, current plantations are unable to meet the rise in global demand and new areas are being cleared, to the detriment of forest cover.

Besides the impact of converting or degrading forests in favour of plantations, industrial-scale farming can impact Guinean forests through the intensive use of water, pesticides, fertilisers, or by causing severe soil erosion.

In West Africa, the trend in recent decades has been towards increased use of highly toxic pesticides. There is a general lack of knowledge about the negative effects of pesticides on production, the economy and health of communities and the environment.