An assessment tool and integrated index for
sustainable oil palm production
Introduction
Many prominent sectors of the international agricultural commodities market have been calling upon their stakeholders to
define and implement social responsibility and sustainability benchmarks, aiming at product quality and production
practices certification. One of these initiatives, the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), is compelling all
producing parties (plantations as well as smallholders) to comply with proposed Principles, Criteria and Indicators (PC&I),
in an international social responsibility assurance movement. In addition to the PC&I, an integrated index is being sought
out (in a CIRAD/Embrapa coordinated effort) as a complementary method for environmental management and
sustainability conformity check. The aim is to assure both procedural social responsibility (PC&I compliance) and actual
environmental and biodiversity conservation in the field.
Geraldo Stachetti Rodrigues, Embrapa Labex Europe, Agropolis International, 34394 Montpellier, France,
[email protected]
Jean Pierre Caliman, Aude Verwilghen, Miguel Tejada Iraizoz, UPR 34 Performance des systèmes de culture de plantes pérennes, CIRAD-PerSyst
Methods
The APOIA-OilPalm system proposed for this objective integrates 64 indicators of oil palm environmental management,
according to five sustainability dimensions: i) Landscape Ecology, ii) Environmental Quality (Atmosphere, Water and
Soil), iii) Socio-cultural Values, iv) Economic Values, and v) Management and Administration (Figure 1). Assessments
are carried out by evaluation of effects of oil palm production on the set of indicators, each considered in its appropriate
quantitative measurement unit. Data collection is carried out in field surveys, field and laboratory analysis, and interviews
applied with the producers and managers in the rural establishment, allowing active participation and favoring adequate
documentation for communication of results. Scaling checklists are formulated for each indicator and include the
rationale for calculation of utility values (scale normalized from 0 to 1, with baseline defined as 0.7), which are integrated
to compose the Sustainability Assessment of the rural establishment. A typical scaling checklist may be seen in Figure 2.
UPR.34 "Performance des Systèmes de
culture de plantes pérennes"
Figure 1. Systemic encompassment and set of indicators
of the APOIA-OilPalm sustainability assessment system.
Results and discussion
The sustainability assessment procedure proposed is a
contribution toward the farms’ environmental management
practices, in a quantitative, objective, documented, systemic
and reproducible fashion. The field test carried out showed
the practicality of the assessment, and indicated favorable
contributions, as well as recommended improvements for oil
palm sustainable production.
The experience attained with this sustainability index,
proposed in a process of international negotiation,
dedicated to such an important productive sector such as
the palm oil, can be instrumental for other initiatives, such
as the roundtables on responsible soy, sustainable biofuels,
and sustainable forests.
Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledged the institutional
support of FAPESP, CNPq, Embrapa (Units Environment, Center-North,
Cotton, Occidental Amazon and Oriental Amazon) and Cirad.
Water
20 Dissolved O2 21 Coliforms 22 BOD5 23 pH 24 Nitrate 25 Phosphate 26 Suspended solids 27 Chlorophyll a 28 Conductivity 29 Visual pollution 30 Pesticides potential impactGroundwater
31 Coliforms 32 Nitrate 33 ConductivityWater
20 Dissolved O2 21 Coliforms 22 BOD5 23 pH 24 Nitrate 25 Phosphate 26 Suspended solids 27 Chlorophyll a 28 Conductivity 29 Visual pollution 30 Pesticides potential impactGroundwater
31 Coliforms 32 Nitrate 33 Conductivity2 Environmental Quality
Atmosphere
14 Suspended particles/ smoke 15 Foul odors 16 Noise 17 Carbon oxide / Hydrocarbon emissions 18 Sulfur oxide emissions 19 Nitrogen oxide emissions2 Environmental Quality
Atmosphere
14 Suspended particles/ smoke 15 Foul odors 16 Noise 17 Carbon oxide / Hydrocarbon emissions 18 Sulfur oxide emissions 19 Nitrogen oxide emissionsSoil conservation
34 Organic matter content 35 pH 36 Phosphate 37 K exchangeable 38 Mg (& Ca) exchangeable 39 Potential acidity (Al + H) 40 Sum of cations 41 Cation Exchange Capacity 42 Volume of bases 43 ErosionSoil conservation
34 Organic matter content 35 pH 36 Phosphate 37 K exchangeable 38 Mg (& Ca) exchangeable 39 Potential acidity (Al + H) 40 Sum of cations 41 Cation Exchange Capacity 42 Volume of bases 43 Erosion5 Management
58 Manager profile &dedication 59 Commercialization conditions 60 Residue recycling 61 Chemical inputs management 62 Institutional relationships
5 Management
58 Manager profile &dedication 59 Commercialization conditions 60 Residue recycling 61 Chemical inputs management 62 Institutional relationships
4 Sociocultural
Values
44 Access education 45 Access basic services 46 Consumption stand. 47 Access sport leisure 48 Conservation legacy 49 Employment quality 50 Occupational safety 51 Qualif. employment4 Sociocultural
Values
44 Access education 45 Access basic services 46 Consumption stand. 47 Access sport leisure 48 Conservation legacy 49 Employment quality 50 Occupational safety 51 Qualif. employment3 Economic
Values
52 Establish profit 53 Divers. Sources 54 Profit distrib. 55 Indebtedness level 56 Establish value 57 Habitation quality3 Economic
Values
52 Establish profit 53 Divers. Sources 54 Profit distrib. 55 Indebtedness level 56 Establish value 57 Habitation quality1 Landscape
Ecology
1 Conservation state of natural habitats 2 Divers. & mangmtproduction areas 3 Divers. & mangmt
confined activities 4 Minimum preserve area 5 Designated protection areas 6 Fauna corridors 7 Landscape diversity 8 Productive diversity 9 Reclamation degraded areas 10 Sources endemic disease vectors 11 Local extinction endangrd species 12 Fire hazard 13 Geotechnical hazard
1 Landscape
Ecology
1 Conservation state of natural habitats 2 Divers. & mangmtproduction areas 3 Divers. & mangmt
confined activities 4 Minimum preserve area 5 Designated protection areas 6 Fauna corridors 7 Landscape diversity 8 Productive diversity 9 Reclamation degraded areas 10 Sources endemic disease vectors 11 Local extinction endangrd species 12 Fire hazard 13 Geotechnical hazard Runoff, Erosion Rain Wind, Evapot. Sun Geologic uplift Fuels Goods & Services Tourism, Immigration Markets Farm system Establishment
People
Environmental Systems Agriculture Forestry Water Soil Livestock Atmosphere Runoff, Erosion Rain Wind, Evapot. Sun Geologic uplift Fuels Goods & Services Tourism, Immigration Markets Farm system EstablishmentPeople
Environmental Systems Agriculture Forestry Water Soil Livestock Atmosphere Runoff, Erosion Rain Wind, Evapot. Sun Geologic uplift Fuels Goods & Services Tourism, Immigration Markets Farm system EstablishmentPeople
Environmental Systems Agriculture Forestry Water Soil Livestock Atmosphere Runoff, Erosion Rain Wind, Evapot. Sun Geologic uplift Fuels Goods & Services Tourism, Immigration Markets Farm system EstablishmentPeople
Environmental Systems Agriculture Forestry Water Soil Livestock Atmosphere After H.T. OdumA systemic,
adequate and
sufficient set
of objective,
quantitative
indicators.
Table of percentage occupied personnel
Manual
work
Specialized
manual
Technician
Engineerin
g
1
2
3
4
Establish-ment
10
20
60
Village
5
20
Region
1
100
Local qualified employment index
(sum pi*k1*k2)
1700
IEmpLQ
Utility
100
0
1700
200
0,1
Coeficients:
300
0,2
a =
1,01
400
0,4
b =
1,E-03
500
0,6
1000
0,8
4000
1
U-IEmpLQ=
0,88
Local opportunity for
local qualified
employment
Qualification for the activity
Check
P
e
rs
o
nnel
o
rigin
Weighing factors
Exponential model: y=a(1-exp(-bx))
Best fit equation for utility
0 1
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Local qualified employment index
U
tilit
y
Table of percentage occupied personnel
Manual
work
Specialized
manual
Technician
Engineerin
g
1
2
3
4
Establish-ment
10
20
60
Village
5
20
Region
1
100
Local qualified employment index
(sum pi*k1*k2)
1700
IEmpLQ
Utility
100
0
1700
200
0,1
Coeficients:
300
0,2
a =
1,01
400
0,4
b =
1,E-03
500
0,6
1000
0,8
4000
1
U-IEmpLQ=
0,88
Local opportunity for
local qualified
employment
Qualification for the activity
Check
P
e
rs
o
nnel
o
rigin
Weighing factors
Exponential model: y=a(1-exp(-bx))
Best fit equation for utility
0 1
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Local qualified employment index
U
tilit
y
