Recently, the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities proposed the consolidation of Malaysia’s smallholders to increase palm oil yield. This involves the grouping of 215,000 independent smallholders into clusters of 8,000-10,000 hectares of oil palm plantations, overseen by medium or large corporations. The initiative could result in an annual increase of CPO production by about 600,000 tonnes, worth USD 2.4 billion. Our principal, Khor Yu Leng, was invited back on BFM’s Morning Run to provide her insights on this proposed initiative.
Yu Leng reviewed the historical contexts of smallholder consolidation in Malaysia, including the development of schemes such as FELDA, FELCRA and RISDA, and recommended a few routes to rejuvenating independent smallholders, including engaging corporations and as part of this, adopting an outcome-driven, smallholder centric, hybrid approach. Yu Leng was also asked to share her thoughts on the recent ruling by the World Trade Organisation on Malaysia's complaint about the EU's ILUC that affects market access for palm oil feedstock into its biofuels mandate system.
For more details, catch the full podcast here.