SUSTAINABILITY FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE February 2024 63 production outputs, allowing farmers to improve feed efficiency of their herds,” explains Dr Kirkland. “While energy supply can be increased with non-rumen-protected vegetable oils or cereals, these ingredients can be incredibly disruptive to rumen function with consequences to animal health and productivity.” The improved production efficiency achieved on dairy farms translates into a similar picture of why sustainability discussions around palm oil aren’t so black and white, says Barton. Compared to other vegetable oil crops, the amount of oil produced on 1 hectare of land growing palm would require up to 8 hectares of land from a different vegetable oil crop such as soya or rapeseed oil. “When looking at what makes one commodity more sustainable than another, it must be both economically and environmentally feasible. When grown sustainably, palm checks those boxes,” explains Catherine Barton. “From an environmental point of view, we need less land to produce the greater volumes of oil that are required for global consumption. The high yield also hits business targets for increased efficiency.” THE CREATION OF A SUSTAINABLE PALM INDUSTRY Since the early 2000s, huge strides have been made through collaborative efforts by palm industry stakeholders and NGOs to implement stricter production policies and to invest in palm production efficiencies to reset the industry with improved environmental and human rights practices, says Barton. Chester Zoo is one of several independent organizations collaborating on on-the-ground conservation efforts in Indonesia and Malaysia to safeguard wildlife populations and prevent deforestation while working with local communities to create sustainable palm production systems and improve working conditions. “Growing sustainable palm requires taking an entire ecosystem approach, and the only way to achieve this is by working at a community level to drive cohesive practices,” explains Barton. Alongside this work, many major palm industry suppliers have implemented their own sustainability programmes and policies. These include Wilmar International, the world's largest palm oil trader, with the implementation of its No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) policy in 2013. Following an update in 2019, Wilmar’s NDPE policy is the staunchest of any commercial company in the world, says Gersen Sumardi, sustainability manager for Wilmar Europe. This includes the immediate suspension of any supplier involved in verified cases of deforestation, and a ‘suspend first’ approach. “Along with operating its own plantations, more than 90% of Wilmar’s total supply comes from third-party suppliers, which consist of around 900 palm oil mills. To ensure NDPE compliance is being met, a multi-pronged approach is taken to identify any risks before working with a supplier and to continue monitoring them,” explains Sumardi. Sustainable palm production is essential to preventing many environmental and economic consequences that would come with “no-palm” policies in food production, says Catherine Barton, Policy Lead on Deforestation-Free Commodities and Regenerative Agriculture for Chester Zoo.
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