3 - The Palm Oil debate and policy dialogue in Indonesia

Public debate in Europe has raised concerns about the effects of oil palm monoculture farming in Indonesia mainly due to deforestation and biodiversity loss. The European non-governmental organizations (NGO) also disseminate information on social problems that arise from violations of human rights and indigenous land rights, and the dangers both to local communities and to global climate crisis. It is common in Europe that food products claiming “without palm oil” are somehow perceived as better. Since most of the world’s palm oil is produced in Indonesia where oil palm cultivation provides a livelihood for 16 million smallholders, workers and their families, the issue is highly contested.
This paper explores the policy dialogue on palm oil focusing on the views of the Indonesian government and NGOs towards the European policies and Western public outlets. It identifies the actors and NGOs institutions involved in bargaining dialogue between Indonesia and Europe and how the differences of perspectives are bridged. Data are collected from state documents, NGO publications, expert interviews, and online news archives. Based on the materials the paper maps 1) a general perspective from Indonesia (both the government and NGOs) 2) actors, agencies and institutions responsible for the public negotiation and bargaining, and 3) preliminary findings on the perceptions of these stakeholders of the “good and bad” of palm oil.