page_title: Livingston, Guatemala
section_title: African palm oil
hierarchical_section_title: Livingston, Guatemala / Economy / African palm oil
caption_attribution_description: Español: Areas en donde se cultiva palma Africana en Guatemala en 2014. Fuente: Luis Solano, Enfoque, N. 36, 15 de Julio de 2015
context_page_description: Livingston is a town, with a population of 17,923, in Izabal Department, eastern Guatemala, at the mouth of the Río Dulce at the Gulf of Honduras. The town serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. It was Guatemala's main port on the Caribbean Sea before the construction of nearby Puerto Barrios.
  Livingston is noted for its unusual mix of Garífuna, Afro-Caribbean, Maya and Ladino people and culture. In recent decades Livingston has developed a large tourist industry.
context_section_description: There is a large demand within Guatemala and some of its neighbors for edible oils and fats, which would explain how the African palm oil became so prevalent in the country in detriment of other oils, and which has allowed new companies associated to large capitals in a new investment phase that can be found particularly in some territories that form the Northern Transversal Strip of Guatemala. The investors are trying to turn Guatemala into one of the main palm oil exporters, in spite of the decline on its international price.  The most active region is found in Chisec and Cobán, in Alta Verapaz Department; Ixcán in Quiché Department, and Sayaxché, Petén Department, where Palmas del Ixcán, S.A. (PALIX) is located, both with its own plantation and those of subcontractors. Another active region is that of Fray Bartolomé de las Casas and Chahal in Alta Verapaz Department; El Estor and Livingston, Izabal Department; and San Luis, Petén, where Naturaceites operates.
caption: African oil palm plantation areas in Guatemala as of 2014.[8]
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