Plantation farming is a new phenomenon to West African culture. In most parts of Africa the farm culture is basically subsistence. The family cultivates a small plot for their food needs and interplant tree crops. After three years or more the tree crop takes over the plot and the farmer moves to another. The new plot may be acquired from the Chief in a location far removed from the old plot. Farm-holdings are therefore small and scattered. The land tenure system does not permit large-scale farming unless the government steps in to acquire the land for public use. Thus it is difficult to think of one family owning a large contiguous estate suitable for plantation farming.
A small-scale palm oil farm may cover 7.5 hectares. The farms’ production of fruits may be processed by the farmer, using the traditional method of palm oil extraction, or sold to other processors. During the lean season the farmer sells to the small-scale processors at prices higher than those offered to the larger mills. The small-scale farms are normally well maintained even though they may not adopt modern agronomic practices such as application of fertilizer, cover cropping, etc. to improve soil fertility and yields.