The Palm Tree: The Subsistence Of Life In Africa

Ripe palm fruits on a palm tree

I can understand the reason worldwide; many are fighting very hard to protect our environment because all of us depend on the global ecological system as human beings. Our environment matters so much that pollution and deforestation are discouraged to make life worth living.

Trees for ages provide human beings with life’s essentials, such as food, oxygen, shelter, tools, and medicine. In Africa and Asia, there is a particular tree called ‘The Palm Tree’ which nothing of it is wasted.

The palm tree is indeed a magic tree which may have multiple products than any tree in the world. Because of its multiple products, the tree plays a major role in sustaining the economy of many countries locally for consumption and internationally through export.

Malaysia and Indonesia dominate world’s production of palm products and in West Africa, oil palm is cultivated in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. How do you classify a tree which produces, two different kinds of oil, palm red oil, and palm kernel oil, broom, soap, margarine, Candle etc.

Ripe palm fruits

A palm tapper tapping fresh palm wine from the palm tree Fermented palm wine can also be used to brew fresh sweet flavoured home Moonshine

Cream extracted from palm fruit produces palm nut soup, usually eaten with fufu, a mixture of pounded cassava and plantain. This food is mostly eaten in Ghana and Ivory Coast. The picture shows a white lady having a taste

There are more products the palm tree can manufacture, such as margarine, soap, medicine to ease coughing, body creams, and lubricants. The hardcover of the nut is widely used by goldsmiths in a furnace to melt gold and iron ore, because of its high temperature. Palm products are always available at African and Asian supermarkets.

Finally, the branches of a palm tree are also used to produce traditional sweeping broom. Broom sweeps our compound in both villages and our houses. What else can I call the palm tree? It’s truly a magic.

Children sweeping their compound with locally manufactured brooms in Africa