Les Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) plans to help smallholder palm oil producers in the provinces of Mongala, Tshopo and Equateur form agricultural cooperatives, as the company seeks to strengthen the country's palm oil value chain around its main industrial sites.

The initiative was presented on June 29, 2026, in Jakarta, Indonesia, during the 31st Senior Officials Meeting of Palm Oil Producing Countries, held under the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC). The goal is to help informal producers gradually transition into agricultural cooperatives.

According to PHC, the initiative will make it easier for smallholders to access technical training, agricultural inputs, improved planting materials and financing mechanisms. The company says the program aims to improve the productivity of family farms while integrating them more effectively into a structured palm oil sector.

Implementation Details Still Unclear

PHC Chief Executive Officer Monique Gieskes said the initiative builds on partnerships already established with rural communities around the company’s plantations in Lokutu, Tshopo province, Yaligimba, Mongala province, and Boteka, Equateur province. These three sites are PHC’s main areas of operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Few implementation details have been released. While the company outlined a phased approach, it has not disclosed how many cooperatives have already been established, how many producers are expected to participate, the rollout timetable or the financing allocated to the initiative.

The program also builds on the Democratic Republic of Congo’s recent membership in the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries. In recent months, experts from Malaysia and Indonesia have participated in training sessions aimed at strengthening producers’ technical skills and improving cultivation practices.

Challenges

PHC operates about 30,000 hectares of oil palm plantations across concessions covering nearly 106,000 hectares. The company is seeking to gradually increase production in a Congolese market that remains structurally undersupplied. National palm oil consumption is estimated at more than 500,000 metric tons a year, compared with domestic production of about 300,000 metric tons.

In April 2026, PHC announced plans to build a palm oil refinery scheduled to begin operations by 2028. The facility is intended to process a larger share of the country’s production locally and increase domestic value addition.

In that context, helping smallholders form cooperatives could expand the sector’s productive base, provided the announced measures result in effective support on the ground. Access to improved planting materials, technical assistance, financing and reliable markets will be critical to enabling informal producers to establish sustainable organizations.

For PHC, the initiative also has a social dimension. The company’s plantations are located in rural communities where demand for jobs, higher farm incomes, infrastructure and broader community development remains strong. Helping smallholders form cooperatives could strengthen ties between the company and surrounding communities if the program is implemented through transparent and inclusive mechanisms.

Boaz Kabeya