Publications

Exploring inclusive palm oil production

Widespread palm oil production causes much controversy due to its negative impacts in the tropics. But whatever is said about it, it is big business and getting bigger by the day due to increasing global demands. Alongside this, the size and depth of the social and environmental debates surrounding palm oil production are also growing. As a major globally-consumed commodity, its production in the humid and sub-humid tropics raises concerns due to its impacts on the environment, biodiversity, local communities, smallholder livelihoods, land rights and climate change.

One possible solution proposed is to improve the ‘inclusiveness’ of smallholders who make up a substantial part of the palm oil value chain. This ETFRN News presents potential opportunities by looking at the experiences, perceptions and perspectives of individuals, companies, institutions and NGOs on what has been done and is being done on the ground to increase the involvement of and benefits to smallholder oil palm farmers. And in doing so, it focuses on the following key questions: How do such actions and their impacts differ between different smallholder types and organizations? How do they differ between countries, regions and corporate contexts? What are the effects of various enabling policy environments? And what do the authors in this edition mean by ‘inclusiveness’?

This ETFRN News edition brings together 24 articles and interviews from around the world that reflect on these questions and it identifies means of improving smallholder inclusiveness in palm oil production and the ones that could be scaled up. These rich experiences are discussed and compared in a summary review, drawing out nine common key lessons.

Zero deforestation: A commitment to change

Several hundred companies, governments, and civil society and non-governmental organizations have committed to zero deforestation initiatives. However, all may not have fully realized the enormousness and complexity of the challenge in committing to zero deforestation, and it appears that some did not know exactly what they stepped into. What is clear though, is that this endeavour is very much at the initial stage of development, and early work and experimentation is showing the way to putting in place what is needed.

This silver anniversary edition of ETFRN News brings together 40 contributions from 100 experts and practitioners. They share their experiences, and suggest ways to improve the effectiveness of zero deforestation commitments through public-private collaboration and other models.

ETFRN News 58 presents different views across a range of commodity value chains, including how companies and smallholders are working together to build deforestation free supply chains. It reviews publicly announced commitments and on-the-ground impacts, and how implementation challenges are overcome. It looks at how socio-economic and environmental impacts and trade-offs are addressed, links between private commitments and government policy and regulations, and how transnational and civil-society initiatives help or hinder them.

From the different contributions in this book, common threads are drawn, woven into the following eight key issues, that if implemented, can enhance the implementation, effectiveness and impact of pledges, and increase the likelihood of existing and future zero deforestation commitments being met.

1. Agree on clear definitions and standards – what is a forest, and deforestation, and, what are acceptable credible and coherent standards for use across different commodities?

2. National and local governments to become more involved – as failure to address broader governance challenges may reduce the positive impact of private sector zero-deforestation initiatives.

3. More corporate transparency and accountability – must become the norm for monitoring and reporting progress, and not just regarding zero deforestation commitments.

4. Support for smallholder empowerment – through capacity building and technical assistance, so millions of small producers can become effective players.

5. Civil society to continue to advocate for change – as consumers and global citizens, for corporations to take effective action.

6. Advocate for jurisdictional action in support of national goals – required to complement corporate supply chain initiatives, and helps to fulfil more inclusive, sustainable development criteria.

7. Include alternative business and financing models – that better take into account existing realities, and local systems of governance and tenure.

8. Invite broad stakeholder involvement – in the inclusive platforms that are clearly needed for progress, as no single solution can achieve the desired impact.

Effective Forest and Farm Producer Organizations

Farm and forest producer organizations are of critical importance to the sustainable use of our natural resources, now and into the future. So says the growing consensus of global opinion. And they hold the key to overcoming many issues, from poverty and human rights, to environmental degradation and biodiversity conservation. Producer organizations represent the collective voices of farmers and forest- dependent peoples, indigenous groups and rural communities. They, are the building blocks of local democracy, and provide essential services to members. And when truly inclusive and with the right support, management choices are sustainable and the benefits are equitable.

This latest edition of ETFRN News contains more than 200 pages of stories from local producer organizations, associations and federations, and from those that speak for them at national and international levels. Reporting on issues of inclusiveness, this is also reflected in the authorship, with most of the 80 contributing (co)authors from the Global South, representing NGOs, UN organizations, government bodies and private companies as well as producer organizations, a third of them women. The result is a compilation of experiences that adds significantly to a growing body of knowledge. Forest and farm producer organizations speak of their achievements and successes – and challenges, some overcome, some not. They share how they have organized themselves, what support they have received, and whether this was for better or for worse. Some benefits were expected, others unexpected. Problems remain, and some were made worse, even with well-meaning intentions of ‘outsiders’.

What have we learnt?

As well as understanding the experiences of individual producer organizations, we appreciate the pivotal role that umbrella organizations – national or regional federations or associations – are able to play in scaling up the benefits. To have meaningful influence at policy and corporate levels, becoming more effective at higher levels is a strategy that must be promoted. Well organized and articulated, many voices can force through the necessary changes needed for local producers to improve and sustain the positive impacts they make to their land, livelihoods and well being.

But the bottom line, as emphasized in many of the articles, is to ensure people’s rights to land, natural, social and financial resources, and to justice and the rule of law in assuring and enforcing these basic human rights. And here, much still remains to be done. But there is much to learn from within these pages, and we hope that you will also take encouragement from the stories that are shared here.