Work

Sustaining livelihoods in a palm oil enclave: Differentiated gendered responses in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: With large tracts of forested land planned for, or already converted to, industrial palm oil concessions, there is a need to better understand the gendered implications for, and responses by, communities affected by such landscape change. This paper examines the differentiated gendered responses and livelihood strategies of Dayak Modang women and men in a hamlet in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, surrounded by industrial palm oil plantations. Informed by feminist political ecology, we investigate how the compounding impact of industrial oil palm – the basis and outcome of enclavement – curtails livelihood options and reinforces gender differentiation in terms of access to and use of customary resources. Gendered inequalities and food insecurity dynamics emerge as a result. We show how, however, that despite gendered exclusions, Dayak Modang women use their own knowledge and practices to diversify livelihoods to negotiate emerging constraints over resource access and use. Our paper demonstrates that ways in which Dayak women ‘sustain livelihoods’ reflects forms of everyday negotiations and resistance to intensifying constraints over life and livelihood.

Source: Asia Pacific Viewpoint

DOI: 10.1111/apv.12265

Authors: Tessa D. Toumbourou, Wolfram H. Dressler

Institution: The University of Melbourne

Language: English

Topic: Oil Palm Production and Sustainability

Subfield: Ecology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Gender equality, No poverty, Reduced inequalities, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,500