Poverty and Palm Oil are Driving Deforestation in Indonesia

VICE travels to the forests of Aceh province, a region still struggling with palm oil-related deforestation and a troubling story of burning land. Widespread deforestation has caused massive flooding, exacerbating the problems of poor smallholder farmers. To add to their woes, small scale farmers have typically been the ones blamed for sparking the fires. But while the government has approached the issue as a law enforcement one, arresting farmers accused of burning their land, others are trying to understand the economic reality of this situation and remedy the issue.  In this film, we meet the stakeholders of this problem and farmers offering an alternative for a problem that’s of global importance. 

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[fulkibramantya]

Sakit hati sekali mendengar pernyataan pejabat daerah bicara seperti itu, padahal beliau sendiri orang Aceh tamiang...

[sirgamealot]

9:20
at first, he said that his people are progressive. then he claimed that they are lazy. and then, he said that he doesnt even know why they're that lazy. and then he passed the responsibility of governmental work back to the people.


if only you guys see how many face palm i did and how many animal names i swear after seeing this

[poppy]

My heart aches for these people. Indonesian people are some of the most sincere, kind, and generous people I have ever met. I am furious by the illegal logging, and the traitorousness of that government official calling his impoverished people lazy,

[higludo]

He has the audacity to call people lazy, even if they dont provide good infrastructure, health care and internet access. I was raised from poverty. Its not because of laziness. Moreover, the education quality in Indonesia it's lame. Meanwhile in java island people had 9 score education, in Sumatra we only got 4 score. Lack of infrastructure, there's no internet. People don't know about tech tings and everything that could improve their knowledge and prosperity. People can't get out of poverty without proper education and right information. And also good infrastructure including internet, road, health care

[baypriawan]

Bupatinya bilang warga miskin karena malas, tapi ngomong sambil duduk dikursi empuk maenan hape doang di kantor bupati padahal HAHAHA

[kebondolan]

rara looks so dissatisfied when the chief told her people are lazy 😌😌

[brianlaurantius]

9:20 the worst government statement I've ever heard 🤢🤮

[Christakxst]

Indonesia population grew from 87 million in 1960 to 270 million in 2020. That's almost 200 million people that need accomodation, room to make business, and farms to feed them.

[dimaskrisyanto]

9:30 extraordinary leader they got there...

[aryaadi]

Bapak-bapak : "Menurut saya malas"
Rara : "kenapa pak?"
Bapak-bapak : nah itu yg saya gk tau?

Dalam hati, kenapa bapak-bapak itu bisa tau kalo masyarakatnya malas?

[anisaqoir]

The audacity calling the people are lazy

[bowlampar]

Without deforestation, there is just not sufficient land to plant palm tree. Then poverty will continue follow by extreme poverty for many Malaysian and Indonesian.😥😥

[dokterponsel]

Government Blame peoples for "laziness"! U should ashamed for urself!

[daphniedulansi]

WOW!!! he blatantly blamed the people why there is no progress in their community??? No farmer is lazy they are just being unfairly exploited by corporate giants that is why they become poorer and poorer.

[老鄉闖天下]

Thank you for bringing this to the table AGAIN! It provided me lots of resources, data and aspects that I can have a deeper look while writing thesis about it!!!

[gogorsky]

Sy kagak ngarti kenapa kebanyakan pejabat klo di tanya masalah di daerahnya kebanyakan nyalahin masyarakat nya.
Kagak sadar apa klo ekor ngikutin kepala.

[SS-vthb]

I think its great that the town elder says, help us plant suitable trees back in the devastated parts. Didnt even mention compensation.

[fredlynlibres]

This is not about poor people being lazy but the reality is the rampant corruptions and as we know these big companies where able to do their bad deeds because of the political officials who accepts payment from this companies. No one to blame and should take responsibility are these government corrupt officials.

[rajasingammuthusamy]

It's not about the 5-hectare cultivation but rather how you utilize the available land for maximizing one's income. Good agricultural planning is equally important to eradicate poverty. Agri-Cultivation, Animal Husbandry, Fishery, cottage industry, etc, thrive side-by-side to excel being a farmer.

[ikomangwirawan]

I don't agree with you. Oil palm plantations are actually the solution to reducing poverty.