Thread by @OilSlickCoffee

One of the books I'm working through during the break is The Oil Palm Complex. It was an airport find that turns out to be quite informative, with more parallels to #coffee than I thought. Here are some snippets from it (a thread) #PalmOil

nuspress.nus.edu.sg/products/the-o…

As with a lot of the rest of the world, “...the rate of growth of the rural population [in Indonesia] has become negative.” but almost half of the population is still rural. p. 9

“In much of Indonesia people remain highly dependent on rural, land-based, even subsistence-oriented livelihoods, hence the arrangements for incorporating them in (or excluding them from) oil palm developments are crucial to reducing rural poverty.” p. 10

As with coffee farming, diversification is often recommended: “A diversified household with other farm and non-farm activities can cope with the upfront costs of oil palm development.” p. 32

In palm oil as well as coffee, farmers can play the commodity game and/or the quality game and both tree crops suffer the same general problem for smallholders in Indonesia; low-quality plant stock and inefficient fertilization usage:

“... the majority of poor villagers continued to plant low-yielding trees and made little improvements in crop practices (especially fertilizer use), thus limiting the pro-poor spin-offs.” P. 104

A lot of the coffee farmers I've encountered use composted manure to fertilize and this is good for the environment but in most cases needs to be supplemented with precise agrochemicals. When used thoughtfully, the damage to the environment can be minimized.

Another parallel to coffee is the need to treat the farm as a business by keeping accurate books, tracking costs, developing marketing strategies, etc. Business training and business connections for farmers can go a long way:

“When farmers develop oil palm plots independently and market their fruit directly to free-standing buyers and mills, they face the difficulty of obtaining access to capital, planting material, fertilizers, and marketing networks without outside tutelage.” p 115

Aside from the parallels to coffee and how informative it is on an entire ag industry, the book is quite depressing when you read about the social, environmental, and economic impact of palm oil in the region. Twice now I've had to set the book aside and read something else.

But the authors do a very good job of taking an objective look at the pros and cons of such a consequential crop that has the potential to make or break an entire country and impact the entire world. I've only scratched the surface of all the issues discussed. A recommended read!