How did palm oil become important to Dahomey’s economy in the 1800s?

In the mid-19th century, the kingdom of Dahomey transitioned to palm oil exports as a direct response to the decline of the transatlantic slave trade, which had previously been the foundation of the kingdom's prosperity.12

Following British efforts to suppress the slave trade, including a naval blockade that forced King Gezo to accept an abolition treaty in 1852, the monarchy sought a viable economic substitute. From the 1840s onward, Gezo promoted the production of palm oil on royal plantations. Instead of being sold to European traders, enslaved people were retained by the state to work these plantations, facilitating a shift in the kingdom's labor and export focus.132

While this transition allowed Dahomey to maintain a level of commercial engagement with Europe—evidenced by a commercial treaty negotiated with the French in 1851—palm oil proved significantly less lucrative than the slave trade, contributing to an eventual economic decline under Gezo’s successor, Glèlè.24