Perspectives on sustainability – making supply chains work for smallholders

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the effectiveness of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification schemes in recruiting smallholders. While smallholders account for 36% of oil palm production, certification rates remain low. The study investigated whether a mismatch between the schemes' definitions of sustainability and the priorities of smallholders contributed to this low recruitment.

• Certification schemes have struggled to recruit smallholders despite their significant role in production. Smallholders represent 36% of oil palm production, yet as of 2016, only 3,500 of Indonesia's nearly 1.5 million smallholder households were certified as independent, with another 80,300 certified through "plasma" schemes involving land leased from mills.
• Smallholders define sustainable palm oil production primarily as the ability of their plantations to support their families and communities over generations. Their primary concerns include access to credit, markets, and inputs, as well as productivity and pest management knowledge, and the impact of low bargaining power in contracts with companies.
• Contrary to the study's initial hypothesis, the current framing of sustainability in RSPO and ISPO documents aligns with smallholder priorities. Since 2017, RSPO has focused on training, legal support, and fair pricing, while the Indonesian government's National Action Plan for Sustainable Palm Oil aims to provide certified seeds, replanting funds, and land title deeds.
• Despite the alignment in rhetoric, the ISPO scheme faces gaps in implementation. The ISPO principles and criteria (P&C) do not mention smallholders or specify how certified companies should interact with them, leaving uncertainty about how the scheme will actually empower smallholders or improve their negotiating power.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2019). Perspectives on sustainability – making supply chains work for smallholders. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/sei-2019-p2cs-palm-oil-sustainability-smallholders.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Perspectives on sustainability – making supply chains work for smallholders. 2019. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/sei-2019-p2cs-palm-oil-sustainability-smallholders.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Perspectives on sustainability – making supply chains work for smallholders |date=March 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/sei-2019-p2cs-palm-oil-sustainability-smallholders.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2019perspectives, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Perspectives on sustainability – making supply chains work for smallholders}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/sei-2019-p2cs-palm-oil-sustainability-smallholders.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }