2.67 Million Oil Palm Farming Households

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (Badan Pusat Statistik), foreign exchange contributions from palm oil (Crude Palm Oil/CPO) exports in 2018 reached US$17.9 billion, equivalent to Rp 250 trillion. This value was second only to coal exports, which reached US$20.63 billion.

The area of ??peasant palm oil plantations in 2018 reached 5.81 million hectares (provisional figure). Of this amount, 4.57 million hectares or 78.56% were mature producing plants. Meanwhile, 1.16 million hectares or 19.98% were immature plants, and 84,000 hectares or 1.45% were damaged plants. The number of farmers who depend on palm oil plantations reached 2.67 million households.

Several problems faced by palm oil farmers resulted in low productivity of people's palm oil plantations, making them less competitive with large plantations. These include a lack of government support, including assistance in providing palm oil seedlings, and overlapping land ownership (legality issues). As a result, the productivity of people's palm oil plantations in 2018 was only 3,066 kg per hectare. This figure is lower than the productivity of state-owned large plantations, which reached 3,681 kg per hectare, and private large plantations, which reached 4,069 kg per hectare.