Factors Influencing the Intensity of Adoption of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Practices by Smallholder Farmers in Thailand.

ABSTRACT

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 in response to adverse environmental impacts caused by the expansion of oil palm production. It created voluntary standards to accelerate adoption of improved practices along the supply chain to ensure environmental benefits. However, the rate of adoption among smallholders of the practices RSPO recommends remains low. This study assessed the factors influencing smallholder farmers' adoption decisions and the intensity of adoption using primary data obtained from 723 randomly selected oil palm producers in the southern region of Thailand, of which 333 RSPO were adopters and 390 were non-adopters. The results of the binary logit and two-limit Tobit regressions revealed that total farm labor, farm size, number of training sessions attended, access to information, extension services, support services, and perceived ease of adoption of the practices had positive effects on the intensity of adoption. However, the age of oil palm trees negatively influenced the intensity of adoption. The results suggest that strengthening capacity building activities and extension services would increase the adoption of the RSPO practices among small-scale farmers.