Oil Palm Contract Farming in Brazil: Labour Constraints and Inclusivity Challenges

The Government of Brazil established their Sustainable Palm Oil Production Programme (SPOPP) in 2010, which sought to enhance the sustainability and inclusiveness of oil palm development in the Amazon. This paper evaluates how well oil palm contract farming promoted by SPOPP has delivered on its inclusive development objectives. Drawing on cross-section data collected in Northeast Pará, it analyses two recurrent SPOPP themes, namely (1) equitable participation and (2) labour allocation to plantation management. Our analysis demonstrates that household availability of land and labour resources strongly shapes patterns of inclusion and exclusion. Moreover, findings reveal that labour time allocation is influenced by hiring of external labourers, which increases when households are labour and land poor. These results give reason to question the utility of labour-oriented contract farming eligibility criteria, revealing important inclusive business and value chain development dilemmas.

巴西政府于2010年设立了可持续棕榈油生产计划（Sustainable Palm Oil Production Programme，SPOPP），旨在提升亚马逊地区油棕产业发展的可持续性与包容性。本研究评估了SPOPP推广的油棕合约农业在实现其包容性发展目标方面的实际成效。研究依托在帕拉州东北部收集的横截面数据，分析了SPOPP的两大核心议题，即（1）公平参与机制，（2）种植园管理的劳动力配置。分析结果表明，家庭拥有的土地与劳动力资源状况，极大地塑造了参与与排斥的格局。此外，研究结果显示，劳动力时间分配受到外部雇工行为的影响，在土地与劳动力匮乏的家庭中，外部雇工的比例会有所提升。上述研究结果对以劳动力为导向的合约农业准入标准的实用性提出了合理质疑，同时揭示了包容性商业与价值链发展中面临的重要困境。