Palm oil industry continues to grow, but its farmers remain poor

The Philippines is expanding oil palm production, but farmers in key growing areas continue to face low returns and rising production costs.

The Philippines is trying to expand its palm oil industry, but the farmers growing the crop have not always seen the same progress in their livelihoods.

One stark example of poverty comes from San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, where former plantation workers became agrarian reform beneficiaries of a 3,000-hectare oil palm plantation.

A 2021 MindaNews report revealed that beneficiaries were receiving as low as ₱3,000 every three months as their share from harvested palm fruits through their cooperative. Other members were reportedly receiving similarly small shares as cooperatives deducted portions for operating expenses and workers’ salaries.

Research published in the Journal of Agrarian Change also found that oil palm farmers in Agusan del Sur tended to rely less on palm production for their income because returns had been insufficient, pushing households to seek other on- and off-farm livelihoods.

Palm oil is not a small agricultural niche, with the Philippine Coconut Authority saying Region XII accounts for 33% of the country’s oil palm area, followed by Caraga at 27%. The industry had 63,380.85 hectares of oil palm planted in 2022.

Sultan Kudarat alone recorded 31,887.92 metric tons of fresh oil palm fruit bunches in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 18.64% from a year earlier.

The industry therefore has room to grow, but expansion means little if the farmers producing the product remain trapped between low returns, production costs, and weak bargaining power.

For palm oil to become a genuine rural livelihood opportunity, growth has to reach the people who spend years planting, maintaining, and harvesting the trees, rather than mainly benefiting the mills and companies processing what they produce.

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