Editing Palm oil (section)

===Social===
[[File:Palm forest.jpg|thumb|250px|In [[Borneo]], the forest (F), is being replaced by oil palm plantations (G). These changes are irreversible for all practical purposes (H).]]

In addition to environmental concerns, palm oil development in regions that produce it has also led to significant [[social conflict]]. Regions with fast growing palm oil production have experienced significant violations of Indigenous land rights, influxes of illegal immigrant labor and labor practices, and other alleged related human rights violations.

The palm oil industry has had both positive and negative impacts on workers, [[indigenous peoples]], and residents of palm oil producing communities. Palm oil production provides employment opportunities, and has been shown to improve [[infrastructure]], and social services and reduce poverty.<ref name="Budidarsono">{{cite news|last1=Budidarsono|first1=Suseno|last2=Dewi|first2=Sonya|last3=Sofiyuddin|first3=Muhammad|last4=Rahmanulloh|first4=Arif|title=Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of Palm Oil Production|work=World Agroforestry Centre|url=http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/TB12053.PDF|url-status=live|access-date=30 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111075416/http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/TB12053.PDF|archive-date=11 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="Norwana">{{cite web|last1=Norwana|first1=Awang Ali Bema Dayang|last2=Kunjappan|first2=Rejani|year=2011|title=The local impacts of oil palm expansion in Malaysia|url=http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/WPapers/WP-78Andriani.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622221930/http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/WPapers/WP-78Andriani.pdf|archive-date=22 June 2013|access-date=30 January 2013|work=cifor.org|publisher=Center for International Forestry Research}}</ref><ref name="Ismail">{{cite news|last1=Ismail|first1=Saidi Isham|date=9 November 2012|title=Palm oil transforms economic landscape|newspaper=Business Times|url=http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/VISPAM/Article/|url-status=dead|access-date=30 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112182523/http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/VISPAM/Article/|archive-date=12 November 2012}}</ref> However, in some cases, oil palm plantations have developed lands without consultation or compensation of the indigenous people inhabiting the land, resulting in social conflict.<ref name="IDMC">{{cite press release|title=Palm oil cultivation for biofuel blocks return of displaced people in Colombia|url=http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpInfoFiles)/B3EE02C81FE75923C125738A003536C9/$file/Colombia_press_release_nov07.pdf|publisher=Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre|date=5 November 2007|access-date=30 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127055013/http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpInfoFiles)/B3EE02C81FE75923C125738A003536C9/$file/Colombia_press_release_nov07.pdf|archive-date=27 November 2007}}</ref><ref name="Colchester">{{cite news|last1=Colchester|first1=Marcus|last2=Jalong|first2=Thomas|last3=Meng Chuo|first3=Wong|date=2 October 2012|title=Free, Prior and Informed Consent in the Palm Oil Sector – Sarawak: IOI-Pelita and the community of Long Teran Kanan|newspaper=Forest Peoples Program|url=http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/palm-oil-rspo/publication/2012/free-prior-and-informed-consent-palm-oil-sector-sarawak-ioi-pe|url-status=live|access-date=30 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514104723/http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/palm-oil-rspo/publication/2012/free-prior-and-informed-consent-palm-oil-sector-sarawak-ioi-pe|archive-date=14 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="FPP">{{cite news|date=28 February 2008|title="Losing Ground" – report on indigenous communities and oil palm development from LifeMosaic, Sawit Watch and Friends of the Earth|newspaper=Forest Peoples Programme|url=http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/palm-oil-rspo/publication/2012/losing-ground-report-indigenous-communities-and-oil-palm-devel|url-status=live|access-date=30 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514094449/http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/palm-oil-rspo/publication/2012/losing-ground-report-indigenous-communities-and-oil-palm-devel|archive-date=14 May 2013}}</ref> The use of [[Illegal immigration|illegal immigrants]] in Malaysia has also raised concerns about working conditions within the palm oil industry.<ref name="BMS 2012">{{Cite report|url=http://biomasssociety.org/en/2012/05/indonesian-migrant-workers-with-particular-reference-in-the-oil-palm-plantation-industries-in-sabah-malaysia%E3%80%80dr-riwanto-tirtrosudarmo/|title=Indonesian migrant workers: with particular reference in the oil palm plantation industries in Sabah, Malaysia|date=11 December 2010|publisher=Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111071229/http://biomasssociety.org/en/2012/05/indonesian-migrant-workers-with-particular-reference-in-the-oil-palm-plantation-industries-in-sabah-malaysia%E3%80%80dr-riwanto-tirtrosudarmo/|archive-date=11 January 2014|work=Biomass Society|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ABC 2014">{{Cite news|date=9 January 2014|title=Malaysia Plans High-Tech Card for Foreign Workers|work=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/malaysia-plans-high-tech-card-foreign-workers-21471479/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113074248/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/malaysia-plans-high-tech-card-foreign-workers-21471479|archive-date=13 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="BBC 2013">{{Cite news|date=2 September 2013|title=Malaysia rounds up thousands of migrant workers|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23931833|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905100947/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23931833|archive-date=5 September 2013}}</ref>
 
Some social initiatives use palm oil cultivation as part of poverty alleviation strategies. Examples include the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's hybrid oil palm project in Western Kenya, which improves incomes and diets of local populations, and Malaysia's [[Federal Land Development Authority]] and Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority, which both support rural development.<ref name="Ibrahim">{{cite news|last1=Ibrahim|first1=Ahmad|date=31 December 2012|title=Felcra a success story in rural transformation|work=New Straits Times|url=http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/felcra-a-success-story-in-rural-transformation-1.193708|url-status=dead|access-date=7 February 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130413151936/http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/felcra-a-success-story-in-rural-transformation-1.193708|archive-date=13 April 2013}}</ref>

====Food vs. fuel====
{{main|Food vs. fuel}}
The use of palm oil in the production of biodiesel has led to concerns that the need for fuel is being placed ahead of the need for food, leading to [[malnutrition]] in developing nations. This is known as the food versus fuel debate. According to a 2008 report published in the ''[[Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews]]'', palm oil was determined to be a sustainable source of both food and biofuel, and the production of palm oil biodiesel does not pose a threat to edible palm oil supplies.<ref name="Man Kee Lam">{{Cite report|url=https://www.academia.edu/876673|title=Malaysian Palm oil: Surviving the food versus fuel dispute for a sustainable future|author=Man Kee Kam|author2=Kok Tat Tan|date=9 September 2008|author3=Keat Teong Lee|author4=Abdul Rahman Mohamed|access-date=26 February 2013|journal=Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews}}</ref> According to a 2009 study published in the ''Environmental Science and Policy'' journal, palm oil biodiesel might increase the demand for palm oil in the future, resulting in the expansion of palm oil production, and therefore an increased supply of food.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Corley|first1=R. H. V.|year=2009|title=How much palm oil do we need?|journal=Environmental Science & Policy|volume=12|issue=2|pages=134–838|doi=10.1016/j.envsci.2008.10.011|bibcode=2009ESPol..12..134C }}</ref>

==== Human rights ====
[[File:Palm oil manufacture (9) Lac Mukamba, Teretoire de Dimbelenge, Kasai occ. RD Congo.JPG|thumb|The palm oil industry has a history of violating labor-related human rights, indigenous territorial right and environmental rights of communities in the contexts where the industry is prominent. Child labor violations are common in smallholder farming in many of the post-colonial contexts (such [[Child labour in Africa|as Africa]]) in which palm oil is produced. |254x254px]]
One report indicated numerous allegations of [[human rights]] violations in the production of palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia, including exposure to hazardous [[pesticide]]s, [[child labor]], [[rape]] and [[sexual abuse]], and unsafe carrying loads. These incidents may receive no response by the company or police, or are left unreported because victims fear retaliation from their abuser. Pesticides used by palm oil plantations include [[paraquat]], which has been banned in Europe over links to [[Parkinson's disease]], and [[glyphosate]], which has been involved in a US class-action lawsuit regarding cancer<ref name="ap">{{Cite news|author1=Margie Mason |author2=Robin McDowell |date=18 November 2020|title=Rape, abuses in palm oil fields linked to top beauty brands|work=The Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/palm-oil-abuse-investigation-cosmetics-2a209d60c42bf0e8fcc6f8ea6daa11c7|access-date=22 November 2020}}</ref> (the [[European Chemicals Agency]] (ECHA) classified glyphosate as causing serious eye damage but did not find evidence implicating it as a carcinogen).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://echa.europa.eu/-/glyphosate-not-classified-as-a-carcinogen-by-echa|title=Glyphosate not classified as a carcinogen by ECHA|date=15 March 2017 |publisher=ECHA}}</ref>

Reports of indigenous peoples and communities in Indonesia, indicate losing farmland and traditionally significant land due to palm oil industry expansion. In 2017, there were over 650 different land disputes between palm oil plantations and indigenous landowners.<ref name="hrw.org">{{Cite web |date=2019-09-22 |title="When We Lost the Forest, We Lost Everything": Oil Palm Plantations and Rights Violations in Indonesia |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/09/23/when-we-lost-forest-we-lost-everything/oil-palm-plantations-and-rights-violations |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |language=en}}</ref> Indigenous communities also expressed concern over the loss of natural resources, such as wild rubber, reed, and ''adat'' forests (communal forests).<ref name="hrw.org"/> Indigenous communities have made some ground when it comes to land disputes, either through protest or legal means.<ref name="hrw.org"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-27 |title=Indigenous Papuans won their forest back from a palm oil firm, but still lack land title |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/indigenous-papuans-won-their-forest-back-from-a-palm-oil-firm-but-still-lack-land-title/ |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=Mongabay Environmental News |language=en-US}}</ref>

Other concerns when it comes to indigenous communities being impacted include lack of government oversight on palm oil plantations, political corruption, or the lack of enforcement of laws meant to protect indigenous lands.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-22 |title=Indonesia: Indigenous Peoples Losing Their Forests |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/22/indonesia-indigenous-peoples-losing-their-forests |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en}}</ref> In countries such as Guatemala, palm oil plantations have significant leverage within the local justice system, leading local police to disregard land claims, going as far as using force to break up protests, and even murdering local leaders.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cuffe |first=Sandra |title=Guatemala's growing palm oil industry fuels Indigenous land fight |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/15/guatemala-growing-palm-oil-industry-fuels-indigenous-land-fight |date=15 Oct 2021 |access-date=2021-12-14 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>