The impact of palm oil expansion on women in Indonesia - a feminist ecological perspective.

By Fiona Breucker

Palm oil is one of the most used vegetable oils in the world. Beyond its use for cooking and consumption in all kinds of food (from digestives to dog food), it can also be found in biofuels or numerous care and beauty products. In recent years, palm oil has received increasing attention and chocolate or shampoo labels are no longer the only place the vegetable oil is mentioned. For instance, in 2018, the supermarket chain ‘Iceland’ released a much-discussed advertisement in cooperation with Greenpeace, announcing that they would ban palm oil from their own products due to the rainforest destruction it causes and especially the detrimental effect this has on orangutans (Iceland Foods, 2018). Apart from the debate around palm oil’s impact on the environment, other critics have focused on its effect on local communities. One dimension that is yet to be explored in more detail, however, is gender, which is thought to be essential to fully understand the consequences of palm oil expansion. This is explained by prevailing gender roles and obligations, which result in women tending to be impacted more negatively by palm oil expansion than men. Here, it is important to differentiate between women, as some suffer more than others. This is to do with questions of power and access to resources and how gender interacts with “class, race, caste, culture, and ethnicity” (Rocheleau et al., 1996, p. 4). To examine the gender dimension of palm oil’s influence, this article explores a case study conducted in a Hibun Dayak community in West Kalimantan, Indonesia by Julia and Ben White (2012).

Environmental Degradation

Before jumping into the impact of palm oil expansion on people, environmental damage needs to be mentioned as well, not only because people suffer in different ways from these environmental changes. The expansion of the palm oil market induces considerable environmental damage, causing deforestation and the loss of extensive amounts of rainforest that threaten biodiversity (Orsato et al., 2013). Additionally, the conversion of peatland into plantations as well as the pollution from chemicals and mills degrade the environment, which is a big issue for people living next to the plantations, who have to deal with water contamination (Jiwan, 2012).

Further contributing to environmental damage through palm oil expansion is land that has traditionally been managed in a sustainable manner is often converted and consequently used unsustainably. In West Kalimantan, for example, sustainable agroforestry schemes providing farmers with food have been displaced by palm oil monoculture plantations. These changes in land often take place without deliberate consent of the locals, leading to conflict (Anderson, 2012). Even though these issues affect both men and women, the latter suffer disproportionately from misinformation and exclusion from decision-making processes as will be discussed in more detail below (Elmhirst et al., 2017). Despite these negative effects for many locals, the Indonesian Government advocates palm oil production as a tool for development and continues to further expand the production, even though Indonesia is already the largest producer of palm oil worldwide (Morgan, 2017).

Environmental Conflict and Exclusion

Growing scarcities resulting from companies or other authorities appropriating resources have shown to exacerbate conflict along the lines of gender, social status or ethnic background. Some groups may gain power over once common resources whilst others are excluded (Robbins, 2012). This can be observed in West Kalimantan, where indigenous communities lose their land to palm oil companies. Whilst some male leaders assist the firms and consequently profit from the deals, many women do not participate in the decision-making processes, lose their land rights and suffer from the division of labour (White and White, 2012). In the following section, the gendered consequences of palm oil expansion for indigenous people and especially indigenous women in a Hibun Dayak community in West Kalimantan will be analysed in more detail.

Tenure Rights and Participation in Decision-Making

Overriding indigenous peoples’ and especially women’s land rights is facilitated by the prevalent power relations, disadvantaging indigenous people and indigenous women in particular. Firstly, the Indonesian state fails to recognize indigenous people’s land rights. In 1945, just after Indonesia had declared independence, the new government declared most of the country as state territory. This included land traditionally owned by indigenous people, disregarding traditional tenure agreements (Orsato et al., 2013). Secondly, to obtain land, the oil companies approach the leading citizens of the community, such as members of the local government, schools, or the police and pay them to convince the head of each household to surrender their land to the company. To that end, monetary incentives, as well as threats, are used (Anderson, 2012). On the one hand, this demonstrates the “asymmetry in power distribution” between both the government and firms dictating the terms and the less powerful indigenous people (Orsato et al., 2013, p. 449). On the other hand, it reveals another imbalance of power amongst indigenous men and women. Since both community leaders and heads of households are traditionally male in Hibun Dayak communities, women are not part of the decision-making processes around the establishment of palm oil plantations (White and White, 2012).

Moreover, the smallholder system that underlies the plantation management, undermines women’s land rights by demanding the head of household, who is assumed to be male, to register the land (Li, 2018). Traditionally, Hibun Dayak women can inherit and own land (White and White, 2012). However, if they want to become smallholders of palm oil plantations, their husbands have to register the land under their male names (Li, 2018). This endows the husband with the control of the income from the plot and the formal ownership of the land, regardless of who owned it before (Li, 2015).

The loss of tenure rights is especially problematic for rural women because these rights provide security and well-being for them and their children (Doss et al., 2014). To illustrate, owning land is a financial security that may prevent women ending up without capital, for instance, when a marriage breaks down (Moser, 1993). Also, if the income from the oil plantation is solely controlled by men, women sometimes have to take on additional work to meet their own needs or that of their children, despite working on the oil palm plantations (White and White, 2012). For example, one woman from Kampuh Hamlet, a village near the location of the case study, reported that her inherited land had to be registered under her husband’s name, who consequently controlled the revenue. To afford lunch for her children and for her own needs, she had to work as a rubber tapper on the side (White and White, 2012), which is extremely unfair.

Another consequence of men being registered as smallholders is their membership in cooperatives, which is the formal way to communicate with the firms. Excluding women from these associations prevents them from taking part in negotiations about organisational or monetary matters which are consequently carried out between firms and men (Li, 2015). On top of that, crucial negotiations often take place in informal settings, for instance at night over cigarettes, by males only. Women may listen “from the kitchen” but they are not part of the decision-making process (Elmhirst et al., 2017, p. 18).

Division of Labour

Another gendered aspect of palm oil production is the division of labour. Women traditionally work as farmers, providing food for their families (Morgan, 2017), whereas culturally, wage-earning jobs are considered to be men’s. Thus, women’s work on palm oil plantations is socially constructed to provide only additional revenue to the income made by men and is often restricted to casual employment (White and White, 2012). To illustrate, virtually all operational jobs, such as management or security positions, are operated by men. Most daily labourers, on the contrary, are women, who engage in low-paid and hazardous tasks (Li, 2018), deprived of long-term benefits such as health care or pensions (Li, 2015). For instance, they fertilise the fruit using toxic substances, without being provided with safety wear or a sufficient salary to buy protective clothing (White and White, 2012).

Another job women engage in much more frequently than men is the collection and selling of scattered fruits. Since the collection of leftover oil palm fruit is illegal, women who engage in the activity face the risk of intimidation or even sexual harassment by the security guards. However, they often rely on it to make enough money to support their families (White and White, 2012). All of these jobs are done by women on top of their role to maintain the remaining land for food cultivation. Consequently, women do more of the (dangerous) work without any formal right to the profits (Morgan, 2017) or social benefits (Li, 2015), which is highly discriminatory.

Conclusion

To conclude, it has been argued that due to prevailing gender roles and obligations, Hibun Dayak women tend to be impacted more negatively by palm oil expansion than men. There is a significant power imbalance between Hibun Dayak men and women, as well as between the indigenous people and both firms and the government, illustrating that in palm oil expansion, indigenous people and most of all women, seem to lose, whilst the government and above all, firms, profit. It is, however, important to mention that every woman and man has their own unique experience and thus may suffer or profit differently. For example, Hibun Dayak men that are not leading citizens will most likely not profit from palm oil expansion either. Finally, as I am not part of the Hibun Dayak culture, I am aware that I may have misunderstood or misinterpreted some of the complex relationships between people, the government and the firms. Nevertheless this article is based on scientific research including numerous interviews with the people concerned and thus, can help us to get an insight into the gendered consequences of palm oil expansion.

Want to learn more?

This video gives a quick and comprehensive introduction to the many problems with the palm oil industry.

This article in the Ethical Consumer explains what palm oil is used for and what products you can find it in.

WWF information on palm oil and what you can do to help.

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