Abstract
Through the lenses of community development and social licence to operate, we consider the complex relationships between local communities and forest plantation and oil palm companies. We examine the practical challenges in implementing socially-sustainable community development (SSCD) by analyzing two corporate social investment community development projects located in West Kalimantan, Indonesia: Desa Makmur Peduli Api (integrated fire management) and Pertanian Ekologi Terpadu (ecological farming). Our study scrutinized: (i) What were the practice challenges faced by the companies in establishing SSCD?; Along with (ii) what should be done to improve how SSCD is undertaken, especially in Indonesia? We identified five challenges: (1) unresolved land conflict; (2) determining the right program; (3) building community capacity rather than providing irrelevant training; (4) a shortage of company field staff and government facilitators; and (5) managing community expectations. Better governance of SSCD will reduce conflict between affected communities and companies.
Highlights
Indonesia is experiencing increasing conversion of forest and swidden land to oil palm plantations.Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, and palm oil is its most important export commodity at around 10% of total export earnings
We examine what are the practice challenges in implementing sustainable community development (SSCD) faced by forest plantation and oil palm companies operating in Indonesia; and what should be done to improve the process of establishing SSCD
We identified that the key steps a company needs to take in the planning phase of corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives are: (1) re-evaluate the approach to partnerships, stakeholders engagement, and social impact assessment; (2) identify any significant flaws in previous community development activities; (3) identify underlying social issues that may impact on the project; and (4) recognize that a sustainable community cannot be developed in isolation from the wider impacts and demands of all the different actors
Summary
Indonesia is experiencing increasing conversion of forest and swidden land to oil palm plantations.Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, and palm oil is its most important export commodity at around 10% of total export earnings. Indonesia is experiencing increasing conversion of forest and swidden land to oil palm plantations. Oil palm has attracted increasing interest from the Indonesian government because of its potential to boost economic development through state revenue and by providing employment, especially in rural areas [2,3]. Over half of the oil palm plantations in Indonesia are developed by converting agricultural land, secondary forest, or marginal land [7,8], resulting in: reallocation of land and resources; extreme changes in vegetation and local ecosystems; resettlement of local communities; loss of traditional livelihoods; conflict between companies and local communities; and exploitative labor relations [9,10,11]
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