Private, non-profit, and plantation: Oil palm smallholders in management-assistance programs vary in socio-demographics, attitudes, and management practices

Reiss-Woolever, Valentine J.; Wakhid, Wakhid; Ikhsan, Muhammad; Caliman, Jean-Pierre; Naim, Muhammad; Azmi, Elfina N.; Shufiyan, Sharyn; Howes, John; Azmi, Reza; Lim, Ying Ying; Abdul Jan, Siti Zulaikah; Barrock, Isaac; Azhar, Badrul; Drewer, Julia; Ward, Caroline; Jones, Joshua A.; Luke, Sarah H.; Turner, Edgar C.; Hidayat, Purnama; Buchori, Damayanti

Abstract

Smallholder farmers produce over 40% of global palm oil, the world’s most traded and controversial vegetable oil. Awareness of the effects of palm oil production on ecosystems and human communities has increased drastically in recent years, with ever louder calls for the private and public sector to develop programs to support sustainable cultivation by smallholder farmers. To effectively influence smallholder practices and ensure positive social outcomes, such schemes must consider the variety in perspectives of farmers and align with their priorities. We conducted social surveys on smallholder farmers in Indonesia and Malaysia with varying degrees of participation in programs that offer advice and support with plantation management (“management-assistance programs”) led by an industrial palm oil producer in Indonesia and a conservation-focused NGO in Malaysia. We surveyed farmers on their demographics, attitudes, and management decisions. Our analyses act as case studies to investigate the similarities and differences between smallholder palm oil producers involved in different schemes, allowing us to determine the alignment between the intentions of partnership programs and the current realities of smallholder plantations. The relationship between heterogeneity of social factors and management decisions and degree of program involvement differed across different groups and region: Indonesian smallholders most closely partnered with the private sector were the most varied in socio-demographics and attitudes but showed little variation in management inputs, while Malaysian smallholders most closely partnered with an NGO were the most heterogenous across all survey sections. Specifically, Indonesian farmers partnered with the private sector used less herbicide, more fertilizer, and had higher yield and total household income than farmers completely uninvolved with management assistance programs. In Malaysia, farmers partnered with an NGO also had higher yield and fertilizer application than independent farmers, however they used significantly more herbicide and had lower total household income. Our findings demonstrate the wide variety of smallholder farmers in both regions, directly opposing a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to sustainability. The wide variety of existing management practices also provides a potentially valuable natural experiment to identify high-yield, environmentally-friendly management approaches. When taken in context, our findings may inform the interventions of management-assistance programs, ensuring they are approaching the most relevant farmer groups in the most effective way.

Citation

Reiss-Woolever, V. J., Wakhid, W., Ikhsan, M., Caliman, J.-P., Naim, M., Azmi, E. N., Shufiyan, S., Howes, J., Azmi, R., Lim, Y. Y., Abdul Jan, S. Z., Barrock, I., Azhar, B., Drewer, J., Ward, C., Jones, J. A., Luke, S. H., Turner, E. C., Hidayat, P., & Buchori, D. (2025). Private, non-profit, and plantation: Oil palm smallholders in management-assistance programs vary in socio-demographics, attitudes, and management practices. PLoS ONE, 20(1), Article e0304837. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304837

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 15, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jan 17, 2025
• Publication Date: Jan 17, 2025
• Deposit Date: Dec 17, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 17, 2025
• Journal: PLOS ONE
• Electronic ISSN: 1932-6203
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: e0304837
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304837
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/43093234
• Publisher URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0304837