Palm oil politics

An EU ban on the vegetable oil's use in biofuel has upset Indonesia and Malaysia. Meanwhile critics say it will only worsen the problem of tropical deforestation by palm oil farmers.

Manuela Saragosa looks at this most divisive of commodities, and moves to ban it impact the smallholder farmers behind almost half of global production. Sustainability researcher Gernot Klepper of the Kiel Institute explains why he thinks the European position is irrational, while Indonesian palm trade journalist Bhimanto Suwastoyo says palm growers could simply switch to markets in India and China where buyers care much less about deforestation.

Meanwhile Greenpeace's Grant Rosoman explains why the environmentalist group is so sceptical about existing certification schemes, while Tiur Rumondang of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil - the biggest such scheme - defends their work.

Producers: Laurence Knight, Joshua Thorpe

(Picture: A farmer carries palm oil fruit at a plantation in Malaysia; Credit: STR/AFP/GettyImages)