Gender, social equality and sustainability certification in Thai smallholder rubber production

The report examines the application of FSC certification, particularly the Small and Low-Intensity Managed Forest (SLIMF) scheme, among Thai smallholder rubber farmers. It finds that certification has primarily benefited processing companies rather than farmers, who see little direct economic gain. The study highlights systemic gender inequalities, where women are active in production but excluded from governance and training, and notes that land tenure issues prevent many smallholders from achieving certification. It concludes that FSC standards must move beyond labour rights to address systemic inequalities and land rights to be effective for smallholders.

• FSC certification for rubberwood in Thailand is predominantly held by processing companies rather than the smallholders who supply them, with only 13 certificates granted to date.
• Smallholder farmers have not seen direct economic benefits from certification, and some remain unaware of the certification's existence, attributing sustainability requirements to the processing companies.
• Deep-rooted social norms result in gender-based inequalities where women are excluded from training and governance, such as rubber-selling cooperatives, and face pay gaps between 'women's tasks' like tapping and 'men's tasks' like fertilizing.
• Land tenure insecurity, stemming from 1960s and 1970s land reforms that designated areas as protected or national reserve forests, prevents many smallholders from providing the documentary evidence required for certification.
• The focus of FSC gender and social standards on labour rights is difficult to monitor on smallholder farms because migrant, seasonal, and landless workers often lack formal written contracts, a gap widened by the SLIMF scheme's reduced documentation requirements.

APA

Aung, M. T., Mortensen, S., Nguyen, H., Lualon, U., & Nopsert, C. (2019). Gender, social equality and sustainability certification in Thai smallholder rubber production. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/sei-2019-p2cs-rubberwood-certification-gender-1.pdf

Chicago

Aung, May Thazin, Sofie Mortensen, Ha Nguyen, Unchulee Lualon, and Chirat Nopsert. Gender, social equality and sustainability certification in Thai smallholder rubber production. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2019. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/sei-2019-p2cs-rubberwood-certification-gender-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Aung |first1=May Thazin |last2=Mortensen |first2=Sofie |last3=Nguyen |first3=Ha |last4=Lualon |first4=Unchulee |last5=Nopsert |first5=Chirat |title=Gender, social equality and sustainability certification in Thai smallholder rubber production |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=March 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/sei-2019-p2cs-rubberwood-certification-gender-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{aung2019gender, author = {Aung, May Thazin and Mortensen, Sofie and Nguyen, Ha and Lualon, Unchulee and Nopsert, Chirat}, title = {{Gender, social equality and sustainability certification in Thai smallholder rubber production}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/sei-2019-p2cs-rubberwood-certification-gender-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }