Title: Sustainability of Malaysian oil palm: a critical review

Authors: Halima Begum; A.S.A. Ferdous Alam; Abd. Hair Awang

Addresses: Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' School of International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 UUM Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia ' School of Environmental Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: Despite some industrial disruption, palm oil is still among the strongest industry of Malaysia. This journey of excellence towards becoming the global leader is getting momentum by support from MPOB, a leader in palm oil research across the globe. This study is to assess the oil palm smallholder activities in Malaysia in order to ensure the sustainability to face the global challenges and competitions of the international markets. Thus, the industry is emerging not only as a dependable source of economic empowerment of the country, but also posing a serious threat towards ecological and social balance due to unawareness of the sustainability issues. With their outstanding share, the industry has potential to lead the market in the near future, but in the way of expansion it must focus on the sustainability issues especially related to environment, economy and society, which can adversely or constructively influence the industry and its production.

Keywords: environmental; economic; social; sustainability; oil palm; palm oil industry; fresh fruit bunch; smallholders; sustainable practices; Malaysia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2019.103467

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2019 Vol.18 No.4, pp.409 - 429

Received: 14 May 2018
Accepted: 13 Feb 2019
Published online: 06 Nov 2019 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article