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Ara Simanjuntak

Talking Indonesia

Ara Simanjuntak : Betting the Farm

Published
August 1, 2025
Duration
36:01
Summary source
description
Last updated
Aug 30, 2026

Discusses Palm oil contributes to up 4.5% to Indonesia’s GDP and unlike other commodities, the Indonesian gove…

Summary

Palm oil contributes to up 4.5% to Indonesia’s GDP and unlike other commodities, the Indonesian government promotes palm oil as motor of rural development. This is because up to half of Indonesia’s palm oil production is generated by smallholders, farmers with 2-3 hectares of land, cultivating oil palm crops and selling the product for reliable market pri…

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Show notes

Palm oil contributes to up 4.5% to Indonesia’s GDP and unlike other commodities, the Indonesian government promotes palm oil as motor of rural development. This is because up to half of Indonesia’s palm oil production is generated by smallholders, farmers with 2-3 hectares of land, cultivating oil palm crops and selling the product for reliable market prices to corporate and state refineries. But this model of national development is in crisis. Small holder palm oil plants are aging, yields are