Farmers on a slick, slippery slope

The last couple of weeks have been difficult for Sumochtar, a 51-year-old oil palm farmer living in the Nagan Raya regency of Indonesia’s Aceh province. His daily income has slumped so drastically that he could not even afford rice for feeding his wife and three kids.

He has suffered a lot since the Indonesian government imposed a ban on palm oil export in late April, which has caused the prices of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) dropped by 30% to 50%.