Palm Oil Case Analysis

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Question 1

The case under analysis, palm oil production, presents a sustainability issue given that it deals with environmental issues. Palm oil is the most affordable and most widely demanded vegetable oil in the world. However, the product has caused diverse problems such as deforestation, social conflict, and soil erosion in an attempt to satisfy the excess demand. The main trouble with palm oil is that the only way production is attained is through cutting down massive forests. Producers cut down forests in Malaysia and Indonesia to plant palm trees and harvest palm oils. Shah (2017) argues that sustainability involves the process and actions of humankind keep of the depletion of the ecosystem to ensure the quality of life in the current time and future is not decreased. Palm plantations reduce the quality of life of humankind through the environmental impacts it causes.

Climate change is one of the issues resulting from the impacts of palm oil production. Rainforests are the world’s most significant sinks of carbon dioxide, and with the clearing of the forest being done to allow palm plantation, a lot of carbon dioxide is released into the air. According to Teng, Khong, & Ha, (2020), carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas; hence when released into the atmosphere, it affects the environment adversely. In a country like Indonesia, where forests are cut down to clear way for palm plantations, deforestation is responsible for the high carbon dioxide emissions.

Another issue on sustainability resulting from palm plantations is pollution. According to Austin et al. (2017), deforestation not only does it causes greenhouse gases but also smoke is produced from the burning rainforest. Forests are cleared through burning, which contributes to air pollution, which is harmful to human health, especially to workers working in the plantations. The smoke produced when burning trees travels long-distance hence has the capability of affecting a lot of people. Such emission put human health at risk, and future health is not sustainable; hence it is crucial to consider palm plantation sustainability.

Additionally, erosion is another critical problem resulting from palm plantations. It is a fact that even a small piece of land with trees is prone to erosion. Hence the impact created by clearing a large piece of forest to enlarge palm plantations is significant. There are no ground plants left to cover soils in palm plantations. Hence the healthy, rich topsoil is washed away, which eventually cog rivers and other water bodies. The soil left is unhealthy and non-nutritious; thus chemical, and farmers use chemicals, fertilizers, and insecticides in the palm plantations to promote better growth of palm trees. This causes more risk to human life since the chemicals are washed into water bodies hence polluting them, affecting both human beings and animals. It is more important to address sustainability in palm plantations to protect the lives of future generations.

Question 2

The topic of palm oil production is a wicked problem. This is because it has several interdependent factors involved in the production, making it hard to address the problem. The factors are in flux, and difficult to address a deeper understanding of all stakeholders is necessary. Peters (2017) states that a wicked problem is a social and cultural problem that society’s stakeholders encounter difficulties while addressing it. Palm production is defined as a wicked problem because it lacks a definitive formulation. The environmental impacts caused through the production of palm wells are not defined by the appropriate stakeholders such as the government, manufacturers, and farmers. A definition given by the government on the climate change caused by palm is challenged by farmers as they may view palm as green plantations. The exact pollution or climate resulting from palm plantations is not well addressed. The direct association of palm plantations with climate change cannot be fully ascertained and quantified because there are other factors such as manufacturing and other human activities affecting the environment.

Secondly, palm oil production is a wicked problem because the solution to palm plantations is that they are only good or bad. One of the solutions to limit the consumption of palm oil is boycott. The decision to boycott or not has been widely discussed for a long time. Palm oil it’s harming the environment, but the decision to boycott palm oil in order to address the challenge has not been successful. The decision would be appropriate f there could be a more sustainable substitute for palm oil. Other substitutes available for palm oils are vegetable oils and animal oils, which in their production more forest will be cleared and land degradation. Most of the solutions available to address the palm oil problem are bad hence the issue is a wicked problem.

Moreover, the palm oil problem can be described as a wicked problem since they lack an inherent logic that signals when they are solved. The main problems resulting from palm production are climate change, erosion, solution, and social impacts. When an initiative is taken to solve one of the problems, such as erosion, by planting trees and other plantations to covers soils, it is difficult to estimate when the problem is solved. In most cases, the problem will not be solved fully as other factors will arise, which enhances the problem more, for instance, flooding, which clears trees and plantations covering the soil. Also, estimating when carbon is eliminated in the atmosphere is difficult.

Question 3

One of the main reasons why the issue of palm oil production problem has not been fully addressed is the lack of government intervention in producing countries. Government is the single most important administrator of the economy, and it administers through the use of policies. Policymaking is based on the knowledge of a certain sector, for instance, agriculture and the economic conditions of the people. The government has the authority to regulate and govern the palm industry to ensure its growth and sustainability. Johnson (2020) states that governments in countries where the palm is produced don’t have the capacity to certify the production of sustainable oil, and they do not focus on the issue; hence it is aced with the challenge when addressing the problem.

Also, the lack of appropriate substitutes limits the ability to stop using palm oil as a way of addressing the problem. Substituting palm oil with sunflower or coconut oil is not economically and environmentally viable due to the low productivity levels. Producing the substitutes is more costly compared to palm oil; hence the price limits the ability to substitute. In order to substitute palm oil, more research is required to ensure a more affordable and environmentally friendly product is developed.

Question 4

System thinking is an approach to integration that is underpinned by the belief that component parts of a system act differently when separated from the system environment or other portion of the system (Gonzales, 2020). It is concerned with the understanding of a system through examining constituents that comprise the whole system. In addressing complex issues such as the issue of palm production problems, system thinking is useful. To determine the problem, system thinkers use the iceberg model. According to Rogers (n.d.), the iceberg logic is applied in problem-solving. When a problem is solved based on a single event, it may arise again as the problem is temporarily solved. The iceberg model uses a four-step approach to tackle a problem. The ultimate goal when using the model, the root cause of a problem is identified, and the underlying features that trigger the problem are identified.

To address wickedness using the iceberg model first step is understanding the event. This entails observing and describing what is happening or happened before. To better understand wickedness, the different components of the wicked issue are identified separately. For instance, the problem of palm oil production all the main event is which is palm production is identified. How is farm-produced through deforestation? If the steps that led to the creation of the wicked problem are identified, better results will be produced.

The second step is understanding patterns and trends. When did the event start, and have similar problems being experienced earlier? The pattern of occurrence of the problem is identified, and also trends are observed. Have the negative impacts of deforestation identified been worsening, or can they be limited to how erosion, pollution, and loss of life due to deforestation have been happening? With the use of system thinking, future trends are formulated as it creates a compelling vision of the future. Future trends are an important aspect when addressing a wicked problem.

Then the factors contributing to the wickedness are identified. Behaviors and procedures contributing to the occurrence of the problem are identified. The different component of the problem is evaluated to identify the impact they cause to the environment and what drives the factors. Factors contributing to wicked problems such as high demand for palm oil, lack of appropriate substitutes for palm oil, and lack of government involvement in controlling are identified. Use of system thinking, each factor contributing to the problem is addressed separately. Also, with the use of system thinking, factors contributing to the problem are fully understood and solved.

The last step in the iceberg is the mental model. The beliefs and assumptions that created the problem are identified. The identification of the wrong beliefs and assumptions is redesigned with the use of system thinking. Also, the new system is designed to be adopted as a way to address the problem permanently.

References

Austin, K. G., Mosnier, A., Pirker, J., McCallum, I., Fritz, S., & Kasibhatla, P. S. (2017). Shifting patterns of oil palm driven deforestation in Indonesia and implications for zero-deforestation commitments. Land use policy, 69, 41-48.

Johnson, S. (2020). The Future of Palm Oil [Ebook]. Retrieved 14 April 2021, from.

Peters, B. G. (2017). What is so wicked about wicked problems? A conceptual analysis and a research program. Policy and Society, 36(3), 385-396.

Shah, V., 2017. What is sustainable palm oil?. [online] Eco-Business. Available at: <https://www.eco-business.com/news/what-is-sustainable-palm-oil/> [Accessed 14 April 2021].

Teng, S., Khong, K. W., & Ha, N. C. (2020). Palm oil and its environmental impacts: A big data analytics study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 274, 122901.

Rogers, K. The Iceberg Model for Problem-Solving – BigThinking.io. BigThinking.io. Retrieved 14 April 2021, from https://bigthinking.io/the-iceberg-model-for-problem-solving/.

Gonzales, M. (2020). Becoming a Systems Thinker. In Systems Thinking for Supporting Students with Special Needs and Disabilities (pp. 21-32). Springer, Singapore.