Djeneba Belem's fried bean cake stall in Abidjan is a world away from the war raging in Ukraine. But her business is now at the mercy of an unexpected consequence: runaway palm oil prices. The conflict has helped propel prices for palm oil - ubiquitous in African dishes from Nigerian jollof rice to Ivorian sticky alloco plantains - to record highs that experts say will deepen a food-cost crisis and punish the poorest.

Thousands of miles from Ukraine's battlefields, millions of Africans are feeling the impact as the chaos on the global commodities markets hits goods like palm oil.

In Nigeria, the government has launched a drive to revive the country's once thriving palm oil business, part of a bid to diversify away from petroleum and help create jobs. But small-scale producers say that loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria are only going into the pockets of bigger factory owners.

'Palm oil production used to be a great source of income to Nigeria' - Orji Kalu

The Central Bank of Nigeria says it is currently considering some measures to address the challenges that have stifled the growth of the country’s palm oil industry.

From cookies to biodiesel, palm oil is everywhere. But it has a bad environmental reputation. A small company in Sierra Leone is trying to do things differently.