Alternative Palm Oil Futures - Oil Palms as Part of Diversified Livelihoods?
29. October 2020
The way in which oil palms are currently grown has proven to come along with many harmful ecological and social consequences. Several environmental studies show that large-scale oil palm monocultures are a major reason for deforestation and contribute to global warming. While oil palm has brought prosperity for some, it has impoverished others. Particularly striking are the precarious working conditions in the oil palm industry and the numerous cases of dispossession, conflicts and resistance linked to it, particularly in areas where oil palm cultivation is expanding.
The desire for alternative, socially and environmentally more sustainable palm oil futures is therefore great. Many initiatives - with varying degrees of ambition – currently try to produce sustainable palm oil. In this workshop, we want to explore how oil palms can be integrated into diversified economic portfolios, for example through different methods of intercropping and the cultivation of oil palms in diverse agroforestry systems, and how this can contribute to shaping socially and ecologically more sustainable oil palm futures.
Organization
Michaela Haug (Institut für Ethnologie/ GSSC)
in cooperation with Raphael Göpel (Asienhaus) and Oliver Pye (IOA, University Bonn)
Guests:
Rosa de Vos (Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University)
Lukas Kliewe (University of Cologne)
Venue:
Online Workshop
For registration please contact
Michaela Haug (mhaug@uni-kolen.de)