Palm Oil Sustainable Production Project

Read the most recent update here

The Disciples of Christ Church in the Congo (EDCC) in the Republic of Congo is a relatively young church founded in 1995 as a mission of the Community of the Disciples of Christ of the Congo (CDCC) of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The capital city of the Republic of Congo is Brazzaville, and the church is also referred to as the Disciples of Christ Church in the Congo – Brazzaville.

The Disciples of Christ Church in the Congo – Brazzaville serves families through a variety of community development projects. Since 2001, the church has run a women’s literacy project. Additionally, the church has been active in working with the refugee community in Brazzaville through income-generation activities and agriculture projects. Many refugees arrived in Brazzaville from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is located directly across the Congo River, because they were fleeing violence resulting from long-standing tensions among communal people groups.

One current project of the Disciples of Christ – Brazzaville is the Palm Oil Sustainable Production project. Through the project, the church is supporting small-scale production of palm oil by refugee families living in Brazzaville. Shown in the video below and photo to the right, the church shares a demonstration on a few steps of the production process. The palm nuts are first cooked and prepared with a wood fire in a barrel. Once cooked, the palm nuts are then transferred to a second barrel, where they are turned manually and the oil is collected through the bottom, which has holes to filter the oil from the palm nut fragments.

The Palm Oil Sustainable Production project is a project of the church to support refugee families living in Brazzaville through small-scale production of palm oil.

Update: December 2022

Over the last year, the EDCC has formed 11 groups of several families each to begin producing palm oil. Each family has been active in the production process and sale of 25-liter cans of palm oil. Families use palm oil in cooking, but also for making soap. With the increased prices of imported oils as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, locally, sustainably produced palm oil has been in higher demand. This has been great for the project’s success! The project has been an income-generating activity for families participating in the project and the EDCC has reported that families have improved living conditions as a result.

Looking ahead, the EDCC is looking to extend the project to include families from the post of Liranga. In Liranga, there is a large community of refugees and an abundant source of palm nuts. Global Ministries welcomes gifts for the Palm Oil Sustainable Production project of the Disciples of Christ Church in the Congo – Brazzaville.