Is RSPO certification having an impact on smallholders decisions to expand or intensify production?

Abstract
In this study we investigated how RSPO certification could affect the environmental sustainability of smallholder farms through influencing decisions to intensify versus expand production to improve income. We conducted interviews and observations of smallholders in Jambi, comparing those who were working towards RSPO certification with those that were not. We found that RSPO is having some impact on improving intensification of production, especially by improving the quality of fresh fruit bunches, but there is no evidence that this is translating to a parallel shift away from expansion. RSPO is having an impact with plasma smallholders on good quality agricultural land, but is not having any impact in lower quality production lands including vulnerable forests and peatlands where smallholders have different motivations for choosing to expand their land ownership and land rights issues restrict participation in certification.