Smallholders in agro-industrial production: Lessons for rural development from a comparative analysis of Ghana’s and Indonesia’s oil palm sectors

Anette Ruml, Daniel Chrisendo, Abdul Malik Iddrisu, Alhassan Karakara, Nunung Nuryartono (), Evans Osabuohien and Jann Lay ()

Land Use Policy, 2022, vol. 119, issue C

Abstract: By successfully including smallholders, the oil palm boom in Southeast Asia has contributed significantly to rural economic development and poverty alleviation, notwithstanding its huge environmental costs. Oil palm production in other world regions is currently picking up, including in Africa. Yet it is uncertain whether the positive socioeconomic impacts from Southeast Asia can be replicated elsewhere. Little development gain may thus accompany severe environmental harm if oil palm expansion leads to deforestation. To shed light on the (prospective) role of oil palm for rural development we perform a systematic comparison of Ghana’s and Indonesia’s oil palm sectors at the macro and micro level, focusing on smallholder inclusion and using a mixed-methods approach. We identify substantial differences in structural conditions and policy foci that have led to two very different oil palm sectors. While the Indonesian experience clearly highlights the development opportunities coming with smallholder inclusion in agro-industrial production, our analysis shows that transferability to the West African context is limited due to regional specificities.

Keywords: Oil palm; Rural development; Cross-country comparison; Mixed methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 O57 Q01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:119:y:2022:i:c:s026483772200223x

DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106196

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