From Palm to Oil
The Long Life of the Palm is a long-term visual
research project examining palm oil production in Anambra State,
South-Eastern Nigeria. The project traces the life cycle of the oil
palm from cultivation through harvesting, processing, and extraction,
foregrounding the labour systems, material transformations, and local
economies that sustain production.
Working across plantations, informal processing sites, and domestic
production spaces, the project documents each stage of the process:
growing palms, harvested fruit bunches, boiling and pressing,
extracted oil, and the residual materials, fibres, shells, and chaff
that remain. These materials are approached not as waste, but as part
of an extended cycle of reuse and value creation embedded within
everyday Nigerian life.
Palm oil production in this context is predominantly small-scale and
labour-intensive, relying on intergenerational knowledge, shared
labour, and improvised technologies. Men and women occupy distinct yet
interconnected roles throughout the process, while production
timelines are closely tied to environmental conditions and seasonal
rhythms. Income generated from palm oil supports household economies,
local trade, and agricultural continuity.
Through photography, the project positions documentation as a method
of sustained looking rather than momentary capture. Each work is
produced from multiple perspectives to register material texture,
spatial presence, and transformation over time. By following the palm
across its shifting states, From Palm to Oil situates palm oil not as
a static commodity, but as a dynamic system shaped by labour, place,
and survival.
