Pathways through the Plantation: Oil Palm Smallholders and Livelihood Strategies in Sarawak, Malaysia
2017
Cramb, Rob A. | Sujang, Patrick S.
The dominant view among policy-makers in Sarawak, a resourcefrontier state in Malaysian Borneo, is that the only viable way toinvolve smallholders in the oil palm boom that has transformed theagricultural economy of that island is to consolidate them into largerproduction entities with externally provided management and finance.However, despite lack of government support, the area of smallholderoil palm has increased dramatically in the past decade in those regionswith access to roads and palm oil mills. We argue that, once processinginfrastructure is in place, oil palm smallholders can readily takeadvantage of this infrastructure to pursue a profitable livelihood option,with lower cost and greater flexibility than large-scale operations. Inthis paper we explore the characteristics of oil palm smallholders inSarawak and the complex and varied processes by which they haveinserted themselves into the rapidly expanding landscape of large-scaleplantation development. We develop a typology of oil palmsmallholders and present a case study based on a questionnaire surveyof 72 farm-households in five longhouse-communities in northernSarawak. The analysis shows the economic viability of independent oilpalm smallholders and identifies appropriate means of support thatcould raise incomes and spread benefits more widely.
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