Palm oil can be found throughout American consumable goods, in everything from snacks to conditioner. As its use has increased, however, awareness of the environmental costs associated with its farming has also grown. Oil palm fruit, which is refined to produce palm oil, is one of the top ten most produced agricultural commodities in the world, along with staples like sugarcane, corn, and rice. More than 85% of this production occurs in Southeast Asia, predominantly in Indonesia.
Despite these present-day plantations in Asia, oil palm plants (Elaeis guineensis) are native to West Africa and have been used since at least the time of Ancient Egypt. Today, Nigeria leads in oil palm fruit production within Africa, though the whole continent’s output does not come close to matching that of Southeast Asia.
In the late 19th century, Western businessmen began to see oil palm as a valuable commodity, bringing the crop out of Africa to plantations in South America and Southeast Asia. Palmolive, the company that sells all sorts of dishwashing detergents, was established in 1898, using palm oil in its products as an innovative new ingredient. In 1911, the first commercial planting of an oil palm plant occurred in the area that today comprises the country of Indonesia.
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Oil palm first came to the area of modern-day Indonesia as an ornamental plant for botanical gardens. By the early 20th century, however, its commercial benefits were clear and it began to be cultivated agriculturally, especially on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. While at one time neighboring Malaysia was the world’s largest producer of palm oil, with plantations on Borneo as well as throughout peninsular Malaysia, in 2006 Indonesia became the world’s single largest producer of palm oil and remains so today.
Between 2000 and 2010, Indonesia’s production of palm oil tripled, responding to global demand as well as a growing national market. While in 1965 palm oil accounted for only 2% of Indonesian cooking oil usage, by 2010 it made up 94% of domestic and commercial cooking oil use. Indonesian policy has also encouraged the use of palm oil in biofuels, with plans for it to power more and more vehicles in the country going forward.
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The environmental impact of oil palm has become a more and more pressing concern over the years. Those in favor of the crop argue that in terms of land and water use, the cultivation of oil palm is more efficient than other crops used to create vegetable oil. Per hectare, about 4 to 5 times more oil can be produced via cultivating oil palm than rapeseed. While this is true, it does not take into account oil palm’s environmental side effects.
First, in order to create a new oil palm plantation, land must be cleared. Often, this involves leveling primary forests, which damages peatlands and destroys the habitat of already endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger and the orangutan. Peatland stores carbon and its destruction releases this carbon into the atmosphere, only fueling climate change. Forests are also usually cleared through burns, which can easily become uncontrolled. In 2015, 6 million acres of forest in Indonesia were destroyed through out of control fires, creating smog and pollution across the region and destroying valuable habitat and jungle that could have absorbed carbon emissions.
This loss of forest and jungle is particularly concerning in the broader context of mitigating climate change. In 1900, 84% of present-day Indonesia’s land was covered in forests. Since then, deforestation has begun to escalate, with 15 million acres cleared between 2000 and 2012. The Indonesian government has put into place policies against deforestation, including a 2011 ban on new permits for clearing primary forests. However, these policies are not always effective. Forest land classification does not always align with conservation goals and important areas of forest are often still cleared. Other times, land is set aside, but it is land that could not have been used for agriculture in the first place.
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The palm oil industry in Indonesia has been fueled in no small part by a system of internal migrant labor known as transmigration. Beginning during the colonial period, inhabitants from the most populous island of Java were resettled as familial groups on other islands, with the intention of providing labor in the agricultural sector and easing population strain in Java. In the 1900s, this policy became a much greater governmental priority. Approximately 3.5 million people relocated from Java to other islands.
This use of migrant labor has created a complex system of large plantations and smallholders all producing oil palm. Many in the palm oil industry work for corporations on estates or plantations, managing the corporation’s crops, including fertilizing the trees and harvesting the oil palm kernels. Other farmers own their own land and maintain their own crops. At times these crops were planted and maintained by the farmers and at times a company, such as a palm oil processing factory, planted the trees as part of an agreement. For example, a factory will plant oil palm trees with the understanding that the kernels will be processed at the company’s factory.
This labor system is not without its problems. Transmigration itself has caused conflict between migrants and the local community, sometimes leading to violence and forced relocations. Even when transmigrants manage to establish lives on government-allocated land in proximity to local communities, there is sometimes resentment as migrants receive governmental benefits that locals do not. Over time, indigenously held land has also been ceded to large plantations and corporations.
Laborers on the plantations, either locals or transmigrants, can also face problems, including exploitative labor practices and violence from their employers. Women have reported incidents of rape and sexual violence and there are also documented cases of child labor on palm oil plantations. Workers also face health risks, including risk of injury from farming tools and health problems due to exposure to chemical fertilizers.
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With the numerous negative social and environmental effects of oil palm cultivation, recent moves to phase out its use in the European Union and elsewhere are unsurprising. A simple ban on palm oil, however, is likely not the most effective solution. Many of the problems associated with the product are also linked to large-scale agriculture more broadly and to other commodities such as coal or gold.
With complex systems involving everyone from Indonesian small farmers to Singaporean companies, from local politicians to wealthy businessmen, it can be tempting to see individual farmers as a kind of noble savage, cut off from their traditional livelihoods and relationship to the land by shadowy forces above their heads. While it is true that ways of life are changing dramatically, this is not a simple case of the exploitation of indigenous communities, but a much more complicated problem of a small community seeking to survive in a global, capitalist economy. Farmers began to cultivate oil palm for the financial benefits; on the whole, they find it more profitable than other crops such as rubber, rice, or rattan. Like anyone else, they seek to lead a comfortable, stable life.
With this in mind, there are some initiatives that could produce more positive change. Indonesian palm oil plantations are largely monocultures, growing only oil palm and no other crops. Elsewhere in the world, farmers have seen success with interplanting, mixing in other crops to lead to diversified income streams and usable harvests before the palm kernels have ripened. Within Indonesia, some farmers are experimenting with more sustainable practices such as transitioning to using organic instead of chemical fertilizers. This can help in gaining sustainability certifications, and, furthermore, some farming communities have found the production of organic fertilizer to be so profitable that they have shifted focus in that direction. This, again, diversifies income streams for the farmers.
Bans on palm oil and a reduction of one’s personal consumption of products containing palm oil can help to stop some of the harmful environmental and social effects associated with the crop. Real transformation on the level that will impact climate change, however, will require a deeper examination of global agricultural and economic systems that reach far beyond a single crop.
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Palm oil’s use as a cooking oil saw a rise in popularity as saturated fats became a concern. Palm oil offered a potentially healthier alternative, along with other vegetable oils such as rapeseed or canola oil. Palm oil also began to be favored in processed foods because of its tendency to incorporate well into the finished product without substantially affecting texture or taste.
Beyond culinary uses, however, palm oil has been widely incorporated into cosmetic and cleaning products, including shampoos, detergents, and make up. When added to soap, it is often a key component in creating foam and suds.
Palm oil’s other main use is in biofuels. When mixed with fossil fuels, a biofuel formulation is created that can be used to power vehicles and other machinery in potentially more sustainable ways. Palm oil’s overall environmental impact, however, remains questionable.
Once fully processed and incorporated into a product, palm oil can have any number of ingredient names, many of which do not contain the word “palm” at all. Other times, an ingredient could have been derived from palm oil or from another vegetable oil, such as coconut oil. For these reasons, it is hard to tell for sure what items contain palm oil.
Some terms to look for: Glyceryl Stearate, Palmitate, Palmitoyl Oxostearamide, Palmityl Alcohol, Palmolein, Sodium Kernelate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Stearic Acid