Rita Insol
KUCHING: The Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association (Doppa) is urging the French government to reconsider its decision to exclude palm oil from raw materials approved for use in biofuel.
Its vice-president Rita Insol said French lawmakers had voted to remove palm oil from the country’s biofuel scheme as of 2020, following longstanding controversy about the environmental impact of the crop that is mainly produced in Asia.
“We admire the French government’s ambition to save forests by not importing any products that cause deforestation. As indigenous people who depend on forests for survival for centuries, we share that ambition as our forests still provide sustenance for many of Sarawak’s indigenous people,” she said.
Doppa, which represents indigenous farmers of oil palm in Sarawak, stressed that the allegations that all palm oil causes deforestation is simply not true.
“Our oil palm is planted on farmlands that were inherited from our forefathers. At one time, these lands were planted with rice or rubber as cash crops but it is oil palm that has been proven to be the most consistent provider of income,” explained Rita.
She also revealed that many of Sarawak’s indigenous farmers have been able to afford better houses and send their children for higher education because of what oil palm provides.
“Now with the implementation of the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil Scheme, many of us are looking forward to better incomes through higher yields through the training in better farming techniques,” she added.
Rita said the import ban is causing great concern and disappointment among the indigenous farmers of Sarawak.
“We hope France would reconsider the ban on palm oil in its biofuel policies. This is a discriminatory act against the indigenous farmers of Sarawak,” she pointed out.
Rita, who once worked as legal advisor of a government-linked company, insisted that the policy passed and adopted by French lawmakers is seemingly an act of discrimination against the rights of indigenous people, which will eventually deprive natives of the right to development.
“It is a right we toil for in our daily lives. Many of us maintain our small oil palm farms by ourselves. This includes carrying several tonnes of harvests every month, even for our women.
“But we do not complain about the hard work, we only ask for a chance for buyers like the French to support us when they need palm oil because we would rather work with pride than beg,” she said.
Rita, therefore, invited the leaders of France or their representative to visit Sarawak and meet the indigenous people.
“We hope the French ambassador could visit our farms to see the truth and pass that on to his government.These are farms that grow fruits and vegetables as food for our families, with oil palm being planted as a way out of poverty.”
There are 28,000 indigenous farmers out of the total of 36,000 registered smallholders in Sarawak who grow oil palm as a cash crop.
Estimated acreage of palm oil farms cultivated by indigenous peoples in Sarawak is less than 100,000 hectares.
Their harvests are an integral supply to the Malaysian palm oil production which is working towards national sustainability certification by 2020 under the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) scheme.
The Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has allocated funds to assist smallholders by paying fully towards the costs of upgrading their farms to meet certification criteria.
Doppa expects to register all Dayak smallholders and have them certified under the MSPO by 2020.
MSPO certification is a mandatory requirement or else farmers lose their licence to grow oil palm.
Palm oil production in Malaysia is heavily regulated by state and federal laws from all aspects, from the planting of high-yielding species to the employment standards of workers.
These practices have been in place but are only now being documented to meet the demands for sustainability and traceability by buyer countries, especially those from developed countries.