SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Palm oil is often associated with tropical deforestation above all else. However, this is only one side of the story, as agricultural scientists from the University of Göttingen and the IPB University Bogor (Indonesia) show in a new study.
[...] For the study, the researchers evaluated results from over 30 years of research on the environmental, economic and social consequences of oil palm cultivation in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They combined the results from the international literature with their own data from Indonesia, which they have been collecting since 2012 as part of an interdisciplinary German-Indonesian Collaborative Research Centre (CRC 990). Indonesia is the largest palm oil producer and exporter in the world. A large proportion of the palm oil produced in Indonesia is exported to Europe and the U.S., where it is used by the food, fuel and cosmetics industries.
The research data show that the expansion of oil palm in some regions of the world—especially Indonesia and Malaysia—contributes significantly to tropical deforestation and the loss of biodiversity. Clearing forestland also leads to substantial carbon emissions and other environmental problems. "However, banning palm oil production and trade would not be a sustainable solution," says Professor Matin Qaim, agricultural economist at the University of Göttingen and first author of the study. "The reason is that oil palm produces three times more oil per hectare than soybean, rapeseed, or sunflower. This means that if palm oil was replaced with alternative vegetable oils, much more land would be needed for cultivation, with additional loss of forests and other natural habitats."
Banning palm oil would also have negative economic and social consequences in the producing countries. "It is often assumed that oil palm is only grown on large industrial plantations," says Qaim. "In reality, however, around half of the world's palm oil is produced by smallholder farmers. Our data show that oil palm cultivation increases profits and incomes in the small farm sector, in addition to raising wages and creating additional employment for rural laborers. Although there are incidences of conflicts over land, overall the oil palm boom has significantly reduced rural poverty in Indonesia and other producing countries."
Journal Reference:
Matin Qaim, et al. Environmental, Economic, and Social Consequences of the Oil Palm Boom [open], (DOI: 10.1146/annurev-resource-110119-024922)
Previously:
(2018-12-18) Indonesia: A Country That Became "Crazy Rich"
(2018-12-01) Palm Oil was Supposed to Help Save the Planet. Instead it Unleashed a Catastrophe.
(2017-03-15) A Makeover for the World's Most Hated Crop
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Friday May 22 2020, @03:10AM (4 children)
If prosperity really is the key to voluntary birth control, then - well, fuck, what about the 80% of the world population that still lives in squalor?
Prosperity didn't work on me - had 2 kids, might have had 3 if the first didn't show up with severe Autism just after the second was born. Didn't work on my Arab neighbor in Miami - 6 kids going on 7 when they moved away to a larger house. Didn't work on my Catholic neighbors here, two $400K houses - in no particular hurry to sell the last one, so I guess they fit the "prosperity" profile, IDK if they've got 4 or 5 and IDK if they're done, either. Didn't work on my best friends from college, they moved to Germany and still had 3.
The coming generations need to get "woke" to the fact that they're already screwed by the last 50 years of population explosion, and if they follow in our footsteps, miserable doesn't begin to describe the lives of their grandchildren. It's not a short term fix, but it's not a short term problem, either. If we could just roll back to the population levels of 100+ years ago, we'd be in great shape.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2020, @03:57AM (2 children)
That was my point. How do you propose we do so? Mass sterilization/murder?
Are you advocating for that? If so, you should be the first one up against the wall. [soylentnews.org]
If not, how do you suggest we dispose of 70% of the current population?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2020, @04:04AM (1 child)
Coronavirus 2: Population Boogaloo
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2020, @01:12PM
Call me old-fashioned. but I'd rather go out like this [youtube.com].
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2020, @04:24AM
> If prosperity really is the key to voluntary birth control
No it is the ‘squeeze’ Of modern civilization that does it, nobody has the time or money to have kids while establishing a career. Then once established and finally having kids, they get one or two before the wife hits low fertility.