Agriculture and Regional Poverty
Although only contributing around 14 percent to
GDP, agriculture provides employment for over 41
percent of the Indonesian population and provides
around two-thirds of rural household income. The
palm oil industry is a significant contributor to rural
income in Indonesia. In 2008, over 41 percent of oil
palm plantations were owned by small land holders,
producing 6.6 million tonnes of palm oil.
With over half of Indonesia’s population lives in rural
areas—of which over 20 percent live below the poverty
line—the palm oil industry provides an incomparable
means of poverty alleviation. Limiting the conversion
of forest to agriculture or palm denies considerable
prospective economic benefits and improvements in
living standards to the rural population, condemning
them to declining standards of subsistence