The unprecedented decision of the Sri Lankan government to phase-out the domestic production of palm oil and stop palm oil imports was hailed by civil society and grassroots organisations in Sri Lanka as a “victory for the people”—a result of years of arduous campaigning against the social, health and environmental impacts of palm oil plantations.
“The government’s ban on palm oil and oil palm cultivation is of historical significance. It shows that through people’s struggles, governments can exercise their responsibility to respect and protect the human rights not just of plantation workers, but of the entire people,” said Dr. P.P. Sivapragasam, executive director of Human Development Organization (HDO) and secretary-general of Coalition of Agricultural Workers International. HDO, a PAN Asia Pacific partner, is one of the organisations who have campaigned against the expansion of palm oil plantations in the country.
In early April, the Sri Lankan government ordered companies to phase out palm oil cultivation, with “10 percent uprooting at a time,” and to replace palm oil with the cultivation of rubber or other more “environmental friendly crops.” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa stated that the aim was to “make the country free from oil palm plantation and palm oil consumption.”
Sri Lanka is estimated to import 200,000 tonnes of palm oil every year, mainly from Malaysia. Around 11,000 hectares in Sri Lanka are dedicated to growing palm oil. [1]
Poisoning in palm oil plantations
“The ban on the cultivation and imports of palm oil will, no doubt, have an adverse consequence for various sectors; some trade and cultivation sectors may face hardships. That is why alternatives must be made in collaboration with the government,” Dr. Sivapragasam added. “In the meantime, one cannot be unmindful of findings of the studies and experiences of the workers that show the hazardous consequences of oil palm cultivation. Workers and farmers who handle chemical pesticides and fertilizers are exposed to various kinds of physical health hazards.”
According to the Center for Environmental Justice and Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka, the use of agrochemicals in palm oil plantations in the country is eight to 10 times higher than in rubber plantations. Agricultural workers are regularly exposed to pesticides during handling and mixing, spraying, and working in freshly-sprayed fields, with most of the work being done by women.[2]
Meanwhile, the poisoning and other rights violations of palm oil workers in Indonesia and Malaysia—the top oil palm growing countries in the region—have extensively been documented in PANAP’s Of Rights and Poisons: Accountability of the Agrochemical Industry. For instance, almost all female respondents working in palm oil plantations in a study area in Selangor, Malaysia reported a burning sensation and itchiness in the genital area due to exposure to Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs). In a study area in North Sumatra, dizziness, headaches, excessive sweating and difficulty in breathing were the most reported signs and symptoms of HHPs poisoning.[3]
Social and ecological impacts
Palm oil plantations in Sri Lanka expanded mainly through the uprooting of rubber plantations in Matara, Galle, Kalutara, Kegalle and Rathnapura districts. These rubber plantations had remaining forest patches; clearing of these forests for the monocropping of palm oil caused significant loss in biodiversity.[4] The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that oil palm expansion affects 54% of threatened mammals and 64% of threatened birds globally.[5]
In Indonesia and Malaysia, the impacts of palm oil expansion are linked to massive deforestation, land grabbing, and labour rights violations. For instance, the National Land Bureau of Indonesia estimates that around half of the country’s 8,000 land conflicts are within the oil palm sector.[6]
“We are hoping that this decision by the Sri Lankan government serves as a wake-up call for the Malaysian government to seriously address issues of massive deforestation of tropical forests and peatlands caused by palm oil expansion. The example of Sri Lanka shows that palm oil production cannot continue in its current model—that is, highly unsustainable and violates the rights of agricultural workers,” said Glorene Das, executive director of Tenaganita, a PANAP partner organisation working among palm oil workers. In Malaysia, these are mostly migrants and some local women workers.
Indeed, the Sri Lankan government’s ban on palm oil expansion comes at the heels of growing concerns over the palm oil industry’s practices. The United States has halted palm oil imports from two of the world’s largest Malaysia-based companies, supposedly over illicit labor practices; while the European Union has pledged to phase out the use of palm oil in biofuels by 2030 due to concerns over deforestation.[7]
Despite all the documented negative social and ecological impacts of palm oil cultivation, other Asian countries such as the Philippines and India are still eyeing palm oil expansion as a model for economic growth.
India, for instance, used to be sovereign in oil seed production, encouraging research and production in a wide spectrum of traditional oil seeds, such as ground nut and mustard. However, neoliberal policies in agriculture made the nation dependent on imported palm oil for its consumption.
In April 2017, the Modi government decided to remove the land ceiling for palm oil cultivation and added incentives to foreign palm oil investors. The government envisions one million hectares under oil palm by 2030 through the bringing in of new technologies, facilities and subsidies—including subsidies on the use of HHPs such as diuron, atrazine, paraquat, and monocrotophos.[8]
Palm oil expansion is feared to exacerbate India’s water crisis, as palm oil requires huge amounts of water compared to other crops. Palm oil mill effluence, as well as pesticides that leach into groundwater and waterways, also pollute already scarce water sources.
Displacing traditional oil seeds
In the Philippines, coconut farmers are struggling due to low prices, lack of infrastructure and government assistance, and competition from imported palm oil products. This has forced small-scale farmers to sell their lands to oil palm growers. Local peasant groups lament how the Philippine government, instead of supporting local coconut farmers, have opted to fund big agribusinesses in the palm oil industry.[9]
In Sri Lanka, the decision on oil palm is expected to strengthen the local coconut and rubber industries. “Coconut oil has been used for ages in Sri Lanka. But palm oil has come to be used more by the people unknowingly. The question we have begged for an answer is why traditional crops such as coconut, tea and rubber are being displaced for oil palm cultivation, which has done more harm than good to the country and people?” Dr. Sivapragasam said.
While civil society groups expressed gratitude to the Sri Lankan government for its recent order, it also remains on guard. The palm oil industry has stated that the Sri Lankan import ban could be challenged at the World Trade Organization.[10]
“As per subsequent reports, some Ministers of the government have stated that palm oil will be imported for limited purpose, and that the oil palm plantations in the Galle District will not be eliminated. It has to be recorded here that such contradictory views within the government give reason for public suspicion,” said Dr. Sivapragasam.
But with President Rajapaksa’s recent announcement that the Sri Lankan government will also ban the import of chemical fertilizers, citing the “right of the people to access a non-toxic and balanced diet,”[11] it seems unlikely that the people’s victory over palm oil expansion will be completely overturned anytime soon.
[1] Reuters Staff (2 April 2021). Sri Lanka bans palm oil imports, tells producers to uproot plantations. Reuters.
[2] Centre for Environmental Justice (2018). Position paper: Oil palm expansion in Sri Lanka.
[3] PAN Asia Pacific (2018). Of Rights and Poisons: Accountability of the Agrochemical Industry.
[4] Centre for Environmental Justice (2018). Position paper: Oil palm expansion in Sri Lanka.
[5] International Union for Conservation of Nature. Palm oil and biodiversity.
[6] Udara, S.P.R et. al. (2019). Impacts of Palm Oil Industry in Sri Lanka. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research.
[7] Vasilopoulos, C. (13 April 2021). Palm Oil Bans Meet Resistance in Southeast Asia. Olive Oil Times.
[8] Ramnath, M. With Palm Oil Expansion, India is Blazing a Trail to a Parched Future. The Wire.
[9] Coca, N. (9 November 2020). Palm oil muscles in on coconut farmers in southeast Asia. Mongabay.
[10] Ondaatje, A. (6 April 2021). Planters Ordered to Destroy Oil-Palm as Sri Lanka Joins Boycott. Bloomberg Green.
[11] Presidential Secretariat, Government of Sri Lanka (22 April 2021). Importation of chemical fertilizers will be stopped completely.
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