Gender-based impacts of labour migration, sustainability ...

Gender-based impacts of labour migration,

sustainability challenges and oil palm in Malaysia

Raehanna ReedMaster of International Relations, Class of

2018, University of Melbourne

Photo by Toa Heftiba on UnsplashPhoto cropped and modified to black and white

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Oil palm production is on the rise. In Malaysia, despite greater calls for sustainable policymaking within the oil palm sector, nearly all initiatives are gender blind. There are three reasons why using gender analysis for labour in the oil palm sector is useful. First, gender plays a key role in labour recruitment, division of labour, payments, health, mobility and return. Second, gender-sensitive policy in oil palm can encourage women to compete in Malaysian labour and product markets. This allows them to make economic, social and environmental contributions to sustainable development both in the sector and beyond. Finally, gender issues cut across all aspects of the economy and society. Sustainable policymaking in oil palm extraction in Malaysia is crucial, as other developing economies such as Guatemala, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea are using a similar oil palm plantation model. Implementing gender equality within the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and Malaysian legislation can transform the sector and empower women locally, and also globally.

[Gender-based impacts of labour migration, sustainability challenges and oil palm in Malaysia]

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INTRODUCTION

Malaysia is the world’s second largest producer of crude oil palm. Yet the benefits of oil palm have not been distributed equally amongst certain stakeholders. There is growing research dedicated to the gendered impact of palm oil production on local rural populations (Vos and Delabre 2018; Elmhirst et. al, 2017; Julia and White, 2012). An identifiable pattern of some of the key gendered impacts include the erosion of women’s status, loss of land ownership, a reduction in women’s formal decision-making power, a loss of subsistence livelihoods, limited access to new labour markets and a heightened household burden for women (Whinfrey-Koepping, 1988; Sim, 1990; Joekes, 1994; Lai, 2011; Yong and Pang, 2015; CIFOR, 2011).

Considerably less attention is paid to the gendered landscape of migrant workers on oil palm plantations. Few studies exist regarding the history of Malaysian oil palm cultivation, labour migration and gender. This gap is significant as Malaysia is heavily dependent on labour migration within its oil palm sector. An estimated 77 percent of all plantation workers are labour migrants (Borneo Post, 2016). Although men represent the majority of plantation workers, women have always been part of the plantation workforce – and largely neglected despite their significant contributions.

Analysing labour migration through a gender-sensitive lens allows for a more critical perspective on the sustainability of oil palm cultivation and its socio-economic impacts. This brief will begin by providing an overview of the highly gendered history of plantations. Then it will seek to provide an understanding of existing gender challenges related to oil palm cultivation. Finally, it will provide policy recommendations advocating for gender mainstreaming, which is crucial for more sustainable policy making within oil palm extraction.

THE PUBLIC SPHERE | 2019 ISSUE

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MALAYSIAN PLANTATIONS: A GENDERED HISTORY

During the British colonial era, Malaysia’s plantations were built to meet Western demand for rubber in a booming automobile industry (Mehmet, 1977). Unable to convince local populations to work due to low wages and harsh conditions, the colonial government imported predominantly Indian male labour (Kaur, 2014). In 1927, under pressure from the Indian government, they accepted a sex recruitment ratio for plantations workers, leading to an increase of Indian women living on plantations from 4.4 percent in 1900 to roughly 40 percent by 1931 (Kaur, 2014, p. 198; Chin, 1998, p. 37).

Female migration served as a method of social control. It ensured stability for the Indian migrant community and provided a steady supply of low-wage labour through reproduction (Chin, 1998, p.38; Garces-Mascarenas, 2008, p.111). Families often arrived in debt due to ‘recruitment costs’ – a result of the kangani recruitment system – where an Indian intermediary would pay upfront travel costs for migrants in exchange for their passage (Kaur, 2012, p.235). Debt had different implications for men and women, as women were paid considerably less (Kaur 2004, p. 82). Women were considered dependents of men and had limited financial or personal freedom (Tenaganita, 2002, p.19).

In 1957, Malaysian independence prompted the centralization of the economy. Over the following decades, the Malaysian government sought to diversify from primarily exporting tin and rubber to heavily subsidizing investment in oil palm (Bruno, 2017, p. 226). This had far-reaching consequences for Indian female laborers integrated within the plantation system and consisting nearly half of its workforce (Kaur, 2012). The cultivation of oil palm was a highly labour-intensive job and viewed as unsuitable work for women.


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This resulted in the collapse of an economic base for female employment (Hoon, 1990, p.38). By the 1970s, the overall participation rate of Indian women in the female labour force – the highest of any demographic during independence – was reduced by a third due to a loss of livelihood on agricultural estates. Repression of labour unionization also limited any political activism towards favourable conditions for women (Menon and Legget, 1996). This precipitated Indian mass migration from plantations to the city where Indonesian male workers gradually became the primary source of laborers on plantations (Hirschman and Aghajanian, 1980, p 38; Hugo, 1993, p.46).

THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE

It is unclear how many migrant women currently work on Malaysian oil plantations. There is no disaggregated labour data according to sector, gender and citizenship (Department of Statistics 2017). Major palm oil companies in Malaysia estimate female workers comprise 22 – 30 percent of their total plantation workforce (Sime Darby, 2014; IOI Group, 2017; KLK, 2017; Genting, 2017). Research on Malaysian female plantation workers is sparse, but broader trends can be identified from growing research in Indonesia where many plantations are Malaysian-owned.

Women work primarily on maintenance tasks such as spraying pesticides that are required to keep palm trees productive and collecting loose fruit (Gottwald, 2018). Discrimination in the hiring process prevents women from engaging in more lucrative tasks such as harvesting. Similar to the colonial era, migrant women still suffer a greater burden from recruitment debt. Labour brokers finance visa and travel costs (Lindquist 2010). Women still earn considerably less than men on plantations (Pye, 2012, p. 337). Plantations place workers in a perpetual poverty cycle, with very few opportunities for mobility, incentives or


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greater rewards (Das, 2018). Women’s lower wages heighten their dependency on their partners and prevent them from escaping poverty cycles (Pye et al., 2016).

Most plantations operate with a ‘target-based’ payment system, both for collecting fruit and for the spraying or fertilization of certain amounts of chemicals per hectare (Amnesty International, 2016). Women often help their partners to achieve their targets and are unrecognized and underpaid (FMT Reporters, 2017). Women are also often involved in the ‘informal’ sector, as shadow or casual workers. Failure to meet targets can result in a deduction in women’s already low salaries or an increase in their workload the following day—adding to their existing challenge of not having enough time for other household responsibilities (Pye, 2016).

Women have limited access to the safety equipment needed for spraying toxic herbicides. Targets also pressure women to operate below health and safety standards. Studies suggest that physiological susceptibility can render women more vulnerable in handling toxic chemicals (UNDP, 2011, p. 4). The prolonged exposure to pesticides can cause reproductive challenges (including miscarriages, premature births, birth defects, and low birth weight) and severe workplace injuries (Tenaganita, 2002; Amnesty International, 2016). This can also have negative impacts on women’s status within traditional societies. Women’s lack of access to grievance mechanisms further exacerbates these health issues.

Malaysia prohibits labour migrant women from marrying or having children (Lisimbang, Tong and Low, 2016, p.114). With limited health care facilities on isolated plantations, there is a lack of adequate access to reproductive health care. Many women become pregnant and have children. Thus, women are often forced into semi-legal status for fear of deportation or detention (Garces-Mascarenas, 2008). A lack of childcare facilities and schools on plantations can also limit mothers’


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ability to meet their financial responsibilities. Furthermore, many children do not have official status: 80,000 stateless children live on plantations and often engage in labour (Gottwald, 2018). In circumstances where local officials or supervisors are engaging in exploitative behaviour or misconduct, women are often trapped due to the isolation of plantation. (Sanderson, 2016). The practice of withholding worker’s passports is relatively common and renders women at greater risk of human trafficking and exploitation (Schrover, 2008; IOM, 2009).

RECOMMENDATIONS

The international spotlight on oil palm due to its environmental implications has led the Malaysian government to take certain steps toward regulating the industry (Villadiego, 2015). The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) sought to create an international standard for sustainable oil palm production and assuage ethically-minded consumers. This can be seen as part of a broader trend to adopt global voluntary agreements within extractive industries. Critics have argued that efforts towards sustainable policy making in oil palm have largely failed, pointing to their lack of enforcement mechanisms and the lack of integration of the RSPO within the socio-political and legal state contexts (Ruysschaert and Salles, 2014, p.438). In the case of labour standards, current policies are largely gender blind (Bassnett et. al, 2016).

Integrating a gender perspective into sustainable oil palm policymaking can help to highlight the far-reaching impacts of extractive economies. While gender issues are often neglected in these spheres, women workers’ contributions to production are significant. Implementing full gender equality within the RSPO and Malaysian legislation has the potential to transform the sector for greater gender equality and women’s empowerment.


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Gender-sensitive policies in oil palm can be a powerful force encouraging women to compete in labour and product markets, allowing them to make economic, social and environmental contributions to sustainable development both in the sector and beyond.

� Gender mainstreaming within Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil: As the central body governing sustainable palm oil, RSPO must adopt a gender-sensitive approach in its auditing processes of oil palm companies’ “Social Impact Assessments” (Barnett, 2016). A more gender-balanced approach with the inclusion of female inspectors and auditors as well as mandatory consultations with both female plantation workers and women in the community should be necessary during the certification process.

� Conducting a governmental sector-wide policy review with gender mainstreaming: The Malaysian government should engage in a multi-stakeholder analysis of the industry with local NGOs, the business sector and RSPO within Malaysia. The aim should be to create a gender-sensitive policy and improve labour conditions for all plantation workers. This may include the introduction of a mandatory provision of a “decent living wage” for companies, increasing the number of female labour inspectors to ensure compliance with standards and introducing stricter legislation for employers requiring worker compensation and healthcare provision.

� Releasing gender-disaggregated data: The Malaysian government should take steps to try and integrate disaggregated data according to gender for the agricultural sector. Access to government documents could help researchers develop more gender sensitive and sustainable policies from evidence-based research.


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� Explore alternative models to the “recruitment agency” and strengthen existing regulation: Some of the most egregious violations of rights for migrants occur as a result of the recruitment agency model. The government is committed to reducing human trafficking, yet it there is still room for considerable improvement to implement anti-trafficking measures. The government must ensure greater compliance of recruitment standards by plantation owners and work with RSPO and ILO to reduce the exploitation that occurs through the recruitment model.

� Consider changing gender-biased legislation: In line with Malaysia’s commitment to the International Covenant Against the Discrimination of Women, and other major human rights frameworks, the government has a responsibility ensure women are entitled to freedom from discrimination under the law. As such, there should be efforts to review discriminatory legislation on marriage and children and consult with women’s groups and relevant stakeholder regarding current legislation. There should also be meaningful discussions with groups on creating amnesty protection for women who come forward with children and work to resolve the status of stateless children on plantations.

� Engage in greater gender consultation: During the entire process of oil palm cultivation, women are left out of consultative dialogue, which could otherwise facilitate more sustainable .practices. With the region’s growing oil palm plantations and increased consumer scrutiny, Malaysia has an incentive to ameliorate its labour conditions to stay competitive in the oil palm sector. Gender consultation has shown to improve sustainable policymaking considerably and facilitate legal compliance of communities affected by policies.


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