Over 240,000 small farmers in Malaysia, and almost 1 million in Indonesia, support their families by growing palm oil, a vegetable oil which grows well in tropical climates. Palm oil has given hope and future to millions of people from lower income communities across Asia and Africa. These small farmers provide for their families and can look forward to a better future. They also care about their environment, and are socially and environmentally responsible for the land that their ancestors lived on. However, they are being victimized by a campaign from environmental activists, which threatens to undermine the economic and social development of communities across Asia. Regulations being promoted by lobbyists in America and Europe would impose Western rules onto small farmers from developing countries. These rules, such as 'certification schemes', are too expensive and too bureaucratic for small farmers to participate - the only beneficiaries from this lobbying campaign against palm oil will be large multinational suppliers and retailers. Producers and growers in Asia will lose out.
Please sign this petition to ask Western Governments to listen to the truth told by rural communities in the developing world; not the lies of lobbyists based in big cities in America and Europe.