Towards more sustainable and productive independent oil palm smallholders in Indonesia: Insights from the development of a smallholder typology

Towards more sustainable and productive independent oil palm smallholders in Indonesia: Insights from the development of a smallholder typology
Author: Idsert Jelsma
Publisher: CIFOR
Total Pages: 27
Release: 2016-09-19
Genre:
ISBN:

The rapid expansion of Indonesia’s independent smallholder oil palm sector is posing important productivity, sustainability and legality challenges. As a result, the need to better regulate independent oil palm smallholders is increasingly being acknowledged by Indonesian polity. Because the sub-sector is comprised of highly diverse stakeholder groups that face and pose distinct challenges, a targeted and stakeholder-disaggregated approach to sector regulation is required. Efforts to that effect have, however, been frustrated by an inadequate understanding of independent oil palm smallholder characteristics and associated challenges. This paper aims to contribute to this knowledge gap by developing a typology of independent oil palm smallholders. Through a hierarchical cluster analysis employing field data collected on 1840 smallholders in one of Sumatra’s largest oil palm producing districts, Rokan Hulu, six sub-groups are identified, which are differentiated here on the basis social, economic, and geographic characteristics. Drawing on these results, the paper identifies a number of specific intervention priorities for each of the sub-groups

In search of sustainable and inclusive palm oil production

In search of sustainable and inclusive palm oil production
Author: Idsert Jelsma
Publisher: Eburon Uitgeverij B.V.
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2019-08-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9463012575

In search of sustainable and inclusive palm oil production builds on the old debate regarding the role of smallholder farmers in society and links it to the integration of smallholders into modern global value chains. Since the peak in global agro-commodity prices in 2007/08, interest in agriculture has increased again among policymakers and in the private sector. Modern global value chains provide opportunities for smallholder farmers but also increasingly dictate conditions in terms of production practices, and thereby determine conditions for inclusion. The Indonesian oil palm sector provides an interesting case regarding smallholder inclusion in modern global value chains and the role they play in sustainable agro-commodity production. Palm oil production in Indonesia has thrived due to insertion in global value chains, experienced massive smallholder engagement, faces considerable sustainability challenges and illustrates the impacts sustainability initiatives can have on smallholders. It thus provides a promising case to further explore the nexus of sustainable and inclusive development, smallholder agriculture and policy. The primary aim of this book is to advance the understanding of how the oil palm sector can be made more sustainable and inclusive. It does so by exploring independent and organized oil palm smallholders in Sumatra, explaining their emergence and performance, and discussing strategies to improve their performance. Whereas the smallholder oil palm sector clearly has its unique characteristics, this book unpicks some stereotypical views on smallholders and highlights the dynamics impacting farmers’ organizations over time, and thereby contributes to debates on the future of farming.

Current practices and innovations in smallholder palm oil finance in Indonesia and Malaysia

Current practices and innovations in smallholder palm oil finance in Indonesia and Malaysia
Author: Bronkhorst, E.
Publisher: CIFOR
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2017-10-17
Genre: Economic assistance
ISBN: 6023870597

The objective of this study was to evaluate past and current policies and smallholder financing schemes in the palm oil industry in Indonesia and Malaysia. The outcomes of these models for smallholders were also evaluated, in terms of income security, sustainable practices and environmental impact. Finally, financing schemes that could contribute to more sustainable smallholder oil palm development were analyzed, and compared to past and existing schemes. The focus of this study is on oil palm smallholders, who play a crucial role in the palm oil production industry and account for the vast majority of oil palm cultivation in Malaysia, and even more so in Indonesia. A number of past and current financing schemes in Indonesia and Malaysia were evaluated through a literature analysis and field assessment. In Malaysia, the main long-term financing challenges faced by smallholders have been solved by large government-sponsored financing schemes and are, thus, less relevant for the report’s discussion. As such, the case studies regarding current innovative financing schemes are restricted geographically to Indonesia. The report proposes potential models to increase the mobilization of long-term finance to smallholders in the palm oil sector. Furthermore, it identifies and reflects on the key enabling conditions that would help overcome the bottlenecks in smallholder long-term financing and create an enabling environment for sustainable oil palm investments. These are: 1) incentives to meet sustainability requirements including Good Agricultural Practices, RSPO certification and deforestation-free production; 2) land tenure security; 3) improved market linkages between smallholders and mills; 4) support for FSPs to assess and manage risks; and 5) strong and effective smallholder organizations.

Public and private sustainability standards in the oil palm sector

Public and private sustainability standards in the oil palm sector
Author: Schoneveld, G.C.
Publisher: CIFOR
Total Pages: 6
Release: 2017-08-03
Genre:
ISBN:

Key messages Many independent oil palm smallholders threaten to become alienated from formal markets because they lack the technical capacity and/or resources to comply with public and private sustainability standards.Since resolving compliance barriers will require targeted interventions, it is becoming increasingly important to better understand the types of barriers faced by different types of smallholders.This brief presents preliminary findings of research on sustainability, legality and productivity challenges arising from independent smallholder oil palm expansion in Riau, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan.Research demonstrates how frontier expansion is often driven by larger out-of-province and absentee farmers that engage in oil palm for investment purposes rather than by smaller farmers (e.g. less than 3 ha) dependent primarily on household labor.Findings show how smallholder legality issues - faced especially by smallholders whose oil palm operations more closely resemble that of businesses - constitute the most significant compliance challenge.

The Oil Palm Complex

The Oil Palm Complex
Author: Rob Cramb
Publisher: NUS Press
Total Pages: 490
Release: 2016-03-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9814722065

The oil palm industry has transformed rural livelihoods and landscapes across wide swathes of Indonesia and Malaysia, generating wealth along with economic, social, and environmental controversy. Who benefits and who loses from oil palm development? Can oil palm development provide a basis for inclusive and sustainable rural development? Based on detailed studies of specific communities and plantations and an analysis of the regional political economy of oil palm, this book unpicks the dominant policy narratives, business strategies, models of land acquisition, and labour-processes. It presents the oil palm industry in Malaysia and Indonesia as a complex system in which land, labour and capital are closely interconnected. Understanding this complex is a prerequisite to developing better strategies to harness the oil palm boom for a more equitable and sustainable pattern of rural development.

The palm oil global value chain

The palm oil global value chain
Author: Pacheco, P.
Publisher: CIFOR
Total Pages: 55
Release: 2017-03-03
Genre:
ISBN:

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.

Review of the diversity of palm oil production systems in Indonesia

Review of the diversity of palm oil production systems in Indonesia
Author: Baudoin, A.
Publisher: CIFOR
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2017-05-09
Genre:
ISBN:

This paper proposes an overview of the development of oil palm production in Indonesia combining two levels: (i) a national and historical perspective of the development of the sector; (ii) a regional approach considering two contrasting provinces, Riau and Jambi. Starting with colonial times, the national approach deals first with the main periods that punctuate the development of oil palm plantations up to the contemporary period, marked by the liberalization of the economy. It emphasizes several factors that played a strategic role in the development of palm oil production, such as the role of the State and migration. After presenting the different models that structure the relationships among stakeholders and how these relationships have evolved, the role of small family planters is analyzed. This section ends with a review of some controversial issues: livelihood improvement, land tenure and customary rights, inclusion versus exclusion, market risks, forest and environmental threats and governance. The regional approach gives context to the development of palm oil production within two territories that have different historical backgrounds, with Jambi entering into production relatively recently. In each of the two provinces, the themes and issues involved in palm oil development identified at national level are analyzed, with specific emphasis on stakeholders’ strategic behaviours. The paper concludes with a comparative perspective on both provinces.

Operationalizing integrated landscape approaches in the tropics

Operationalizing integrated landscape approaches in the tropics
Author: Reed, J.
Publisher: CIFOR
Total Pages:
Release: 2020-10-29
Genre:
ISBN: 6023871380

Poverty, food insecurity, biodiversity and habitat loss are persistent global challenges that are further exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. These challenges are particularly hard felt in the tropical landscapes of the global South where tensions between local socio-economic and international environmental commitments are pervasive. Due to the apparent failure of sectorial approaches to address such challenges, more holistic strategies are being increasingly promoted. Integrated landscape approaches are one such example; essentially a governance strategy that engages multiple stakeholders to reconcile societal and environmental objectives at the landscape scale to identify trade-offs and potential synergies for more sustainable and equitable land management. Integrated landscape approaches have been widely endorsed in the international and national policy arena, within academia, and in the discourse surrounding conservation and development funding. However, despite strong scientific theories and concepts, the implementation, and particularly evaluation and reporting, of integrated landscape approaches in the tropics remains poorly developed. The COLANDS initiative represents an explicit attempt to contribute towards the evidence base by operationalizing integrated landscape approaches in Ghana, Zambia and Indonesia. In this regard we aim to provide regular, honest reporting of progress. This book details the experiences of researchers engaged in these landscape-scale initiatives across the first two years of implementation. With dedicated chapters on current progress, biodiversity, methods and evaluation the book provides useful tools and resources for research and implementation. Furthermore, we consider the complex socio-political challenges associated with landscape approaches with chapters focussed on how to effectively engaging stakeholders and understanding the national policy environment. We then provide profiles of the sites in each of the three countries and describe the historical context, current status and potential for more integrated landscape governance. This book explores the techniques and strategies that can be deployed to improve the governance and management of land and natural resources and better reconcile conservation and development objectives in tropical landscapes undergoing rapid change. Contents Foreword Acknowledgments Author bios Executive Summary Introduction and backgroundJames Reed, Mirjam Ros-Tonen and Terry Sunderland Integrated landscape approaches in the tropicsJames Reed, Amy Ickowitz, Colas Chervier, Houria Djoudi, Kaala B Moombe, Mirjam Ros-Tonen, Malaika Yanou, Elizabeth L Yuliani and Terry Sunderland The role of biodiversity in integrated landscape approachesJoli R Borah, Yves Laumonier, Eric RC Bayala, Houria Djoudi, Davison Gumbo, Kaala B Moombe, Elizabeth L Yuliani and Mathurin Zida Engaging multiple stakeholders to reconcile climate, conservation and development objectives in tropical landscapesJames Reed, Jos Barlow, Rachel Carmenta, Josh van Vianen and Terry Sunderland Theories of change and monitoring and evaluation types for landscape approachesColas Chervier, Marie-Gabrielle Piketty and James Reed A methods toolbox for integrated landscape approachesJames Reed, Joli R Borah, Colas Chervier, James Langston, Moira Moeliono, Alida O’Connor, Elizabeth L Yuliani and Terry Sunderland Potential for integration? An assessment of national environment and development policiesAlida O’Connor, Houria Djoudi, Moira Moeliono, Kaala B Moombe and Freddie S Siangulube Context for landscape approach implementation in the Western Wildlife Corridor Landscape (Northern Ghana)Eric RC Bayala, Houria Djoudi, Mirjam Ros-Tonen and Mathurin Zida Understanding landscape dynamics: A case study from Kalomo DistrictKaala B Moombe, Freddie S Siangulube, Bravedo M Mwaanga, Tiza I Mfuni, Malaika P Yanou, Davison J Gumbo, Rays C Mwansa and Gilbert Juunza Kapuas Hulu: A background analysis to implementing an integrated landscape approachAugusta M Anandi, Elizabeth L Yuliani, Moira Moeliono, Yves Laumonier and Sari Narulita Conclusion and the way forwardTerry Sunderland, James Reed and Mirjam Ros-Tonen