About Fedepalma
Colombian palm growers have one of the most robust and active trade associations in the agricultural sector, the National Federation of Oil Palm Growers, Fedepalma, whose actions have been decisive to consolidate the agribusiness in the country. Fedepalma is a corporate organization that identifies the needs and values of its members to respond to their interests and expectations. Its mission is to bring oil palm growers together, help them define their interests, and guide them in all aspects related to their activity.
Since its foundation in 1962, Fedepalma has promoted all types of initiatives aimed at increasing competitiveness and promoting the sustainability of the oil palm sector, prioritizing the activities that producers and other individuals are not able to efficiently carry out on their own.
Due to its corporate nature, Fedepalma studies the inherent risks in the oil palm business, analyzes the markets, performs prospective exercises, explores alternative uses, and advises entrepreneurs on the reality of the palm-growing activities so that they may make their own investment decisions based on comprehensive, accurate, timely, and adequate information.
To do so, within the context of the Strategic Map of the Federation, Fedepalma seeks for the competitiveness of the oil palm sector and the general wellbeing of affiliated palm growers through a value proposition that contributes to improve the phytosanitary status, increase productivity, optimize the profitability of the palm, consolidating palm-growing as a sustainable business, and strengthening the institutional framework of the oil palm sector.
Until the 1980s, Fedepalma's activities focused on agreeing on the conditions to promote the cultivation and to protect the commercialization of its products with successive state administrations. During the 90s, the expansion and consolidation of the agribusiness required organized association in order to strengthen research and promote measures, actions, and instruments that would ensure greater competitiveness in the domestic production of palm oil and a more robust position in national and international commercialization, all within the context of economic opening.
In the last few years, international markets have become more and more demanding regarding sustainability and responsible consumption of products. Therefore, the Federation is committed to the sustainable development of Colombian palm oil with the purpose of positioning and consolidating it as a unique and differentiated product. To do so, it created the Colombia Sustainable Palm Oil Program, aimed at the massive adoption of best agribusiness practices, the recognition of progress in the sustainability status, the promotion of sales, consumption, and positioning of Colombian palm oil, and the implementation of sectoral policies that support the efforts of palm growers addressed at sustainable production.
For this purpose, the Federation trains not only the oil palm nucleus to be certified as sustainable, but also fruit providers who are usually small and medium holders thus ensuring the full traceability of the oil as sustainable and giving us a competitive advantage in the international market.
Thanks to these efforts, the Colombian palm sector has a significant organizational structure today, formed by organizations devoted to research and commercialization. Just like the special programs developed by Fedepalma, these institutions are governed by clear corporate criteria and develop the strategies of the palm sector policies, constantly devising and building the future competitiveness and sustainability of the sector.
For more information, visit our website (Available in Spanish only).
Fedepalma: http://web.fedepalma.org/
Cenipalma
For Fedepalma, it is clear that the two key aspects of the sector’s competitiveness are research and technology transfer. Therefore, in 1990, it created the Colombian Oil Palm Research Center, Cenipalma, which would later become the cornerstone to the solution of phytosanitary problems that affect oil palm crops, providing producers with efficient scientific tools to advance in issues such as yield, quality, and costs.
In Colombia, we could say that oil palm research is aimed at making the sector more competitive and ensuring quality of its products, sustainable development, and compliance with its social purpose.
Cenipalma develops technology transfer programs on its research in biology, genetic improvement, oil palm diseases, integrated management of pests and pollinators, integrated water management, integrated soil management, crop physiology and nutrition, irrigation, production of varieties adapted to Colombian conditions, benchmarking, and productivity of the extraction processes of palm oil and its derivatives.
Additionally, it supports the dissemination of information on the uses and benefits of palm oil for human health and nutrition.
For more information, visit our website (Available in Spanish only).
Cenipalma: https://www.cenipalma.org/
Nicolás Pérez Marulanda
Executive President
Nicolás Pérez Marulanda holds a BS in Economics from Universidad de Los Andes and a MA in International Development Policy Duke University – Sanford School of Public Policy. He has twenty years of experience in the public and private sectors, with extensive knowledge of agribusiness and rural development, economic and financial project appraisal and evaluation, and development financing. He started his career in the Colombian financial sector as an investment banker and the moved to the public sector where he was the head of the Sustainable Rural Development Unit at the National Planning Department and the Government Advisor on Coffee at the Ministry of Finance. For ten years he was responsible for the Colombian coffee-sector´s public policy, overseeing the investment of the National Coffee Fund´s resources. He´s been a member of several boards of directors and a mentor for companies related to the agricultural sector in Colombia. Recently he has been named as Fedepalma´s CEO, the National Federation of Oil Palm Growers.
Contact Us
Alexandre P. Cooman
Director of Cenipalma
direcciongeneral@cenipalma.org
Andrés Felipe García
Director of Sector Planning and Sustainable Development
afgarcia@fedepalma.org
Juan Fernando Lezaca
Director of Institutional Affairs
jlezaca@fedepalma.org
Daniella Sardi Blum
Director of Strategic Commercial Management
dsardi@fedepalma.org
Carolina Gómez
Head of Communications
cgomez@fedepalma.org
Ximena Mahecha Anzola
Sustainable Colombian Palm Oil Program Manager
jmahecha@fedepalma.org
The Oil Palm Booklet
Know everything about The Oil Palm Agribusiness in Colombia