Effects of The Proliferation of Cottage Vegetable Oil Factories on The Rural Environment of South-eastern Nigeria

Vegetable oil industrial activities, like other industrial ventures, create wealth and quicken development rates. However, they have negative consequences on the environment. This industrial pursuit generates oxides of sulphur and Nitrogen, carbon monoxides, particulates and aerosols that pollute the air; oil chaffs, spills and solid, wastes to the land and discharges oil effluents into water bodies in the southeastern Nigerian rural areas. Socio-economically, it boosts income but brings in some social problems as job seeker drift towards these industrial areas. Proper environmental sustainability practices employing the advanced mitigation measures would guarantee equitable operation of the vegetable oil industries without shortchanging the serene status of our rural environment.