Oil palm plantations and smallholdings are expanding massively in Indonesia. Proponents highlight the potential for job creation and poverty alleviation, but scholars are more cautious, noting that social impacts of oil palm are not well understood. This report draws upon primary research in West Kalimantan to explore the gendered dynamics of oil palm among smallholders and plantation workers. It concludes that the social and economic benefits of oil palm are real, but restricted to particular social groups. Among smallholders in the research area, couples who were able to sustain diverse farming systems and add oil palm to their repertoire benefited more than transmigrants, who had to survive on limited incomes from a 2-ha plot.
The rapid development of oil palm cultivation feeds many social issues such as biodiversity, deforestation, food habits or ethical investments. How can this palm be viewed as a miracle plant by both the agro-food industry in the North and farmers in the tropical zone, but a serious ecological threat by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) campaigning for the environment or rights of local indigenous peoples? In the present book the authors – a biologist and an agricultural economist- describe a global and complex tropical sector, for which the interests of the many different stakeholders are often antagonistic. Oil palm has become emblematic of recent changes in North-South relationship in agricultural development. Indeed, palm oil is produced and consumed in the South; its trade is driven by emerging countries, although the major part of its transformations is made in the North that still hosts the largest multinational agro industries. It is also in the North that the sector is challenged on ethical and environmental issues. Public controversy over palm oil is often opinionated and it is fed by definitive and sometimes exaggerated statements. Researchers are conveying a more nuanced speech, which is supported by scientific data and a shared field experience. Their work helps in building a more balanced view, moving attention to the South, the region of exclusive production and major consumption of palm oil.
This open access book focuses on the meanings, agendas, as well as the local and global implications of bioeconomy and bioenergy policies in and across South America, Asia and Europe. It explores how a transition away from a fossil and towards a bio-based economic order alters, reinforces and challenges socio-ecological inequalities. The volume presents a historically informed and empirically rich discussion of bioeconomy developments with a particular focus on bio-based energy. A series of conceptual discussions and case studies with a multidisciplinary background in the social sciences illuminate how the deployment of biomass sources from the agricultural and forestry sectors affect societal changes concerning knowledge production, land and labour relations, political participation and international trade. How can a global perspective on socio-ecological inequalities contribute to a complex and critical understanding of bioeconomy? Who participates in the negotiation of specific bioeconomy policies and who does not? Who determines the agenda? To what extent does the bioeconomy affect existing socio-ecological inequalities in rural areas? What are the implications of the bioeconomy for existing relations of extraction and inequalities across regions? The volume is an invitation to reflect upon these questions and more, at a time when the need for an ecological and socially just transition away from a carbon intensive economy is becoming increasingly pressing.
There is abundant literature focusing on the palm oil sector, which has grown into a vigorous sector with production originating mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia, and on increased palm oil consumption in many countries around the globe, particularly European Union states, China and India. This sector expansion has become quite controversial, because while it has negative social and environmental impacts, it also leads to positive benefits in generating fiscal earnings for producing countries and regular income streams for a large number of large- and small-scale growers involved in palm oil production. This document reviews how the social, ecological, and environmental dynamics and associated implications of the global palm oil sector have grown in complexity over time, and examines the policy and institutional factors affecting the sector's development at the global and national levels. This work examines the geographies of production, consumption and trade of palm oil and its derivatives, and describes the structure of the global palm oil value chain, with special emphasis on Malaysia and Indonesia. In addition, this work reviews the main socioenvironmental impacts and trade-offs associated with the palm oil sector's expansion, with a primary focus on Indonesia. The main interest is on the social impacts this has on local populations, smallholders and workers, as well as the environmental impacts on deforestation and their associated effects on carbon emissions and biodiversity loss. Finally, the growing complexity of the global oil palm value chain has also driven diverse types of developments in the complex oil palm policy regime governing the sector's expansion. This work assesses the main features of this emerging policy regime involving public and private actors, with emphasis on Indonesia. There are multiple efforts supporting the transition to a more sustainable palm oil production; yet the lack of a coordinated public policy, effective incentives and consistent enforcement is clear and obvious. The emergence of numerous privately driven initiatives with greater involvement of civil society organizations brings new opportunities for enhancing the sector's governance; yet the uptake of voluntary standards remains slow, and any push for the adoption of more stringent standards may only widen the gap between large corporations and medium- and smallscale growers. Greater harmonization between voluntary and mandatory standards, as well as among private initiatives is required. Commitments to deforestation-free supply chains have the potential to reduce undesired environmental impacts from oil palm expansion, and while this risks excluding smallholders from the supply chains, such commitments may function to leverage the upgrading of smallholder production systems. Their success, however, will require greater public and private sector collaboration.
This book presents the technological developments that are currently being researched or implemented in the management of palm oil industrial waste. After introducing the plantation and milling processes, the book focuses on the wastes generated solely from plantation and milling activities, as reducing waste from these two sectors will enhance the overall sustainability of the entire palm oil industry eco-system. It then evaluates the sustainability of current practices and elaborates on technological developments in the two sectors, before critically assessing options to treat wastes generated from the plantation and milling process. To properly contextualise the work, it also includes a section on socio-economical sustainability, as well as an industrial case study. A valuable resource for academics interested in the evolution of sustainable waste management strategies within this industrial context, the book also appeals to practitioners in the field who wish to improve the sustainability of their particular plantation or mill.
Indonesia's forests make up one of the worlds most biologically diverse ecosystems. They have long been harvested by local people to meet their daily needs. Since the 1970s, a combination of demographic, economic and policy factors has driven forest exploitation at the industrial scale and resulted in growing deforestation. Key factors behind the forest loss and land use change in present-day Indonesia are the expansion of oil palm, plywood production and pulp and paper industries. Oil palm has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Indonesian economy, increasing from less than 1 million hectares in 1991 to 8.9 million hectares in 2011. The plywood and pulp and paper industries have also expanded significantly since the log export ban in 1985. All three sectors have contributed to deforestation. Several measures are being taken to reduce the loss of tropical forests in Indonesia. These measures are driven by growing global concern about the impact of deforestation on biodiversity and global warming and the Indonesian governments commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A major policy initiative revolves around developing renewable energy from biomass that can be sourced from oil palm, sugar, cassava, jatropha and timber plantations. This paper analyzes these measures and assesses the conditions under which they may be most effective.
Oil palm basics. Oil palm and palm oil. Historical summary. Palm oil biology, products and productivity. Oil palm cultivation. Yield and its improvement. Palm oil production and global trends. Palm oil production. Biofuel development, demand and expansion. Palm oil prices. The boom continues. A driver of deforestation?. Greenhouse gas emissions.
This study was carried out in three major palm-oil producing areas in Cameroon with the aim of investigating the artisanal milling and commercialization of red palm oil. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires were administered; focus group discussions and participatory observation were applied to obtain required information. Those involved were identified and the service providers ranged from mill owners or managers to smallholders and intermediaries, some of which were involved in two or three of the services. All told, 83% of those involved were men, and the women represented 17% of the service providers. Six different types of processing equipment were identified in the production areas and it was revealed that semi-automated press and combined motorized hydraulic digester and press system (digester screw press) were the most efficient. After harvesting of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs), the major operations were: chopping or cutting, stripping, selecting and sieving, loading to drums for boiling, off-loading to the digester or press for crushing and/or pressing, and clarifying of palm oil. Family labor, hired labor or both, contributed greatly to the success of the milling operations. Family labor was not paid, but motivations were given to family members, while hired labor was paid per activity. The average cost of labor per ton of FFB in the study area was 8,812 FCFA for both peak and low seasons. The average net return in the processing and marketing of 1 ton of FFB was 32,207 FCFA in peak season and 46,556 FCFA in low season. This income-generating activity was ranked as the first main source of income in the study area and has valuable contributions in household livelihood. The production of palm kernel oil and local soap was also recorded in the area, but this was mainly for home use and not for sale. Poor accessibility and unstable prices were the main constraints in the production process. While the men were dominant in processing, women were dominant in the commercialization of RPO. Artisanal palm-oil milling is a lucrative business in the area and will go a long way to alleviate poverty if the smallholders could come together and form a dynamic scheme.
