Abstract: Labor saving innovations are essential to increase agricultural productivity, but they might also increase inequality through displacing labor. Empirical evidence on such labor displacements is limited. This study uses representative data at local and national scales to analyze labor...

Many tropical regions are experiencing massive land-use change that is often characterized by an expansion of oil palm at the expense of forests and more traditional forms of agricultural cropping. While implications of such land-use change for the environment and for local farm households were...

The study examines the heterogeneous livelihood impacts of oil palm expansion among smallholder farmers in Jambi Province, Sumatra. Per-capita annual consumption expenditure (PACE) is chosen as a quantitative measure of livelihood status of farm-households. Its determinants are estimated using...

The recent expansion of oil palm in Indonesia is largely smallholder-driven. However, its socio-economic implications are under-examined. Analyzing farm-household data from Jambi Province, Sumatra, oil palm adoption is found to have positive consumption and nutrition effects. However, these...

The rapid expansion of the oil palm area in many tropical countries has raised concerns about its negative impact on local communities, food security, and on the environment. While the expansion of oil palm in early stages was mainly driven by large private and public companies, it is expected...

Through contract farming schemes between cohorts of farmers and private companies the Indonesian government intended to spur rural economic development. In particular within the oil palm sector, such community-company 'partnerships' are commonplace. Yet, empirical evidence of the success of...

Over the last 10 years mobile money has emerged as an important innovation with a potential to increase financial access in developing countries. Mobile money is making an important contribution to financial inclusion in many ways. First, it’s increasing access to financial services to a large...

We investigate land-use dynamics in Jambi, Sumatra, one of the hotspots of Indonesia' recent oil palm boom. Data from a structured village survey are used to analyze the role of socioeconomic and policy factors. Oil palm is partly grown on large plantations, but smallholders are also involved...