Palm oil is associated with deforestation, orangutan habitat loss, illegal logging, and community displacement. These are the usual reasons that lead to anger and hatred towards palm oil. Objectively, this is no different from any other type of economic activity. Beef or leather, soybeans, paper, rubber, cocoa, coffee, and many other industries contribute to the same impacts. It is just that these industries are not in the spotlight as much as palm oil, and frankly, our global demand for consumer goods is not as flexible as it seems.
Harvested year-round, oil palms produce an average of 10 tons of fruit per hectare – far more than soybeans, canola, and sunflowers. It means that oil palms require ten times less land than the other three major oil-producing crops, soybeans, canola, and sunflowers. Oil Palm Plantations are just as effective as rainforests in acting as carbon sinks and absorbing carbon dioxide. Oil palms also require much less fertilizer, pesticides, and energy.
Banning palm oil, the demand for vegetable oil would have to be met by increased production of other oil plants, such as soya, sunflower, or rapeseed. It would require much more land, as oil palm produces 3-4 times more vegetable oil per hectare. It would mean more deforestation, as the other crops would need much more land for cultivation. It would mean more use of fertilizers and other agricultural machinery resulting in more carbon emissions.
Although oil palm has the lowest land requirement, it provides the highest oil yield. And unlike the other oilseeds, palm oil is a perennial crop with a life cycle of 25 years. Instead of replanting year after year, tall, leafy oil palms produce generous amounts of fresh fruit year-round. It saves energy, reduces soil erosion and land pollution, and helps with economic enhancement. The trees also act as an effective carbon sink.
A ban on palm oil means the loss of livelihood and economic freedom for many. In Malaysia, over 40% of the total palm oil area is grown not by large companies but by small family farms with an average landholding of fewer than five hectares. Oil palm is more profitable than alternative crops. Oil palm cultivation helps to increase income, thereby improving children’s nutrition, health, and education. Non-farming households also benefit as the oil palm boom has improved employment opportunities, wages, and rural infrastructure. Palm oil cultivation can help children get an education, smaller household gain economic freedom, and developing countries improve their GDP.
Malaysian palm oil industry supports environmental protection, habitat conservation. We want to contribute to the global mission of climate control and continue contributing to food security. But this is not a simple black and white situation of banning palm oil and oil palm cultivation. It will only put a dent in the ongoing effort for sustainable agriculture. We are convinced that this is not the right action and hope that the world will follow suit.