The livelihood impacts of oil palm: smallholders in Indonesia

Abstract

The biodiversity and climate consequences of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) expansion across South East Asia have received considerable attention. The human side of the issue, highlighted with reports of negative livelihood outcomes and rights abuses by oil palm companies, has also led to controversy. Oil palm related conflicts have been widely documented in Indonesia yet uptake by farmers has also been extensive. An assessment of the livelihood impacts of oil palm development, including sources of conflict, is needed to shed light on the apparent contradiction between these reports and the evident enthusiasm of farmers to join the oil palm craze thereby informing future expansion. We assessed the impact of oil palm development on the economic wellbeing of rural farmers in Indonesia. We found that many smallholders have benefited substantially from the higher returns to land and labour afforded by oil palm but district authorities and smallholder cooperatives play key roles in the realisation of benefits. Conflicts between communities and companies have resulted almost entirely from lack of transparency, the absence of free, prior, and informed consent and unequal benefit sharing, and have been exacerbated by the absence of clear land rights. We make specific recommendations to improve the present situation and foster the establishment of smallholder friendly production regimes. Oil palm expansion in Indonesia is set to continue. If environmental standards can be raised and policy interventions targeted at the broader social impacts of land development this expansion may be achieved to the significant benefit of large numbers of rural smallholders. (Résumé d'auteur

Oil palm boom and land-use dynamics in Indonesia: The role of policies and socioeconomic factors

“…While oil palm has caused an economic boom in the producing regions, it has also attracted criticism on environmental and social grounds. Oil palm expansion is often held responsible for deforestation, biodiversity loss, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and conflicts over land rights between oil palm companies and local communities (Curran et al, 2004;Fitzherbert et al, 2008;Koh and Wilcove, 2008;Rist et al, 2010;Wilcove and Koh, 2010;Feintrenie et al 2010a;Koh et al, 2011;Wicke et al, 2011;Carlson et al, 2012;Margono et al, 2012;Obidzinski et al, 2013;Dewi et al, 2013;Wheeler et al, 2013). However, oil palm is not only grown on large-scale plantations.…”

Gender and generation in engagements with oil palm in East Kalimantan, Indonesia: insights from feminist political ecology

“…Incremental land acquisitions for oil palm investment may indeed signal entrepreneurialism and rural dynamism, but also bring complex patterns of agrarian differentiation and dispossession. Such structural variations are what makes it possible to simultaneously identify on the one hand cases of accumulation by dispossession, accompanied by conflict and resistance (Colchester et al 2006;McCarthy 2010;Li 2011), and on the other hand cases of smallholder 'enthusiasm' for oil palm, that attract policy responses aimed at facilitating production and access to value chains (Rist, Feintrenie, and Levang 2010;Rival and Levang 2014).…”

Pendekatan Pengendalian Fluktuasi Harga Tandan Buah Segar Terhadap Pendapatan Petani Kelapa Sawit

“…Adanya perbedaan akses input, akses finansial dan akses pasar menyebabkan keterbatasan petani swadaya dalam mengelola kebun sawitnya sehingga pendapatan dan produktivitas petani swadaya cenderung lebih rendah apabila dibandingkan dengan petani plasma (Lestari et al, 2015). Melihat permasalahan ini, maka perlu dilakukan penelitian berkaitan dengan pendekatan pengendalian fluktuasi harga TBS terhadap pendapatan petani kelapa sawit baik petani lokal maupun petani plasma (Rist et al, 2010;Waarts dan Zwart, 2013). Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis perbedaan produksi TBS dan mengkaji perbedaan pendapatan petani plasma dan petani lokal serta membuat pendekatan pengendalian fluktuasi harga TBS terhadap pendapatan petani kelapa sawit.…”