GSSC Seminar Series
28 May 2024
“Jangka Benah Strategy” as an Initiative to Resolve the Existing Monoculture Oil Palm Plantations in the Forest Area
Ari Susanti (Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta Indonesia)
12:00-13:00
Oil palm has become a prominent agricultural commodity in Indonesia and is widely adopted mainly as monoculture plantations by smallholders and large-scale companies. Evidence shows that these massive monoculture practices have led to adverse impacts on environmental and social systems as well as the unsustainable growth of the producing regions. The “Jangka Benah Strategy” promotes oil palm agroforestry by adding perennial trees and other crops or combining them with livestock breeding to become an alternative for smallholder farmers to deal with this problem. In addition, oil palm agroforestry (OPAF) could also resolve tenurial disagreements and improve forest structure and ecosystem functions. This action research aimed to establish OPAF demonstration plots as examples of operational OPAF in the fields, enhance grassroots-level institutions to promote OPAF and create a policy dialogue platform for stakeholders.
Ari Susanti is a researcher at the Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Her research interest stems from her curiosity to understand the linkages between natural and human systems and the process of achieving sustainable forest management and development. She uses a system approach, mixed methods, and tools to understand the broader forestry context.