The Dilemma of Indonesia as The World’s Biggest Producer of Oil Palm

The Dilemma of Indonesia as the World’s Biggest Producer of Oil Palm– Indonesia is the biggest producer of the world’s Oil Palm. In 2020, the harvested area of palm oil in Indonesia reached 14 million hectares with a production of around 42 million tons in 2019. That’s the huge area of plantations in the world. Although this plant is not native to Indonesia, this species has favorable to Indonesian planters. They strive to enlarge the cultivation area of Oil Palm. Of course, some issues of deforestation in Indonesia has been linked by oil palm expansion area from time to time. They sacrifice the protected area of forest to oil palm plantations. Some ecological aspects always follow the oil palm plantation in Indonesia. Some non-government organizations (NGOs) still accuse oil palm in terms of the destruction of forest areas.

The Dilema of Indonesia as The World’s Biggest Producer of Oil Palm- Producers of Oil Palm

Statistically, according to FAO Statistical Corporate Database (FAOSTAT) in 2019, Indonesia still becomes the main producer of Oil Palm. Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of oil palm with 42.8 tons, followed by Malaysia with production reached 19.8 million tons, Thailand with the production of around three million tons, and Columbia around 1.5 million tons.

The Dilema of Indonesia as The World’s Biggest Producer of Oil Palm- Biggest producers of Oil Palm — The rank of Biggest Producers of Oil Palm (Source: FAOSTAT,2019)

Originally, the E. guineensis comes from African regions around West and Central African countries. With the help of the Netherlands, Indonesian people can know the Oil Palm. Historically, around 1848, the plants were tested in Indonesia by Netherland people. The cultivation of these plants was tried in some areas in Indonesia. Based on some research, this plant grew well and can produce fruits. It makes this plant was cultivated widely to meet the increasing demand. Now, from time to time, the production of oil palm is in increasing phases. Based on the FAO Statistical Database (FAOSTAT), the production in 1961 is just 145 thousand tons and fifty years later, exactly in 2019, the production reached forty-two million tons. Statistically, the average growth of each year is around seven hundred thousand tons if we looked and calculate the data from 1961 to 2019.

The Dilema of Indonesia as The World’s Biggest Producer of Oil Palm- Indonesian Productions — (Indonesia Production of Oil Palm From 1961 to 2019. Source: FAOSTAT, 2019)

The Highest Productions but Shortage Supply of Cooking Oils.

With these huge productions, Indonesia can export the excess of the production. Based on the data of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) & the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture in 2016, of the thirty-two million tons of oil palm production, around 27 million tons exported to foreign countries. Some of the destination countries of Indonesia’s Oil Palm are China, India, Pakistan, Belanda, Malaysia, and Spain.

As the biggest producer of oil palm, it doesn’t guarantee of Indonesia to secure its consumption of oil palm. Many aspects involved in it. Some of the headlines in Indonesian newspapers highlighted the scarcity of cooking oil in the markets. It makes that Indonesian people had in trouble to get the oil.

It was unlogical conditions. The dilemma of the world’s biggest producer of oil palm still happens. Cooking Oil in Indonesia becomes scarce in Supply. Some people struggle to get these goods with hard effort. They must wait in line for hours. Some experts guess these events. They argued about the disturbances of distribution, the accumulation of cooking oils by some party, and so on. This argument must be proven and there are some possibilities of the scarcity of cooking oils. That is a dilemma….