Aligning Media Narratives with Palm Oil Realities

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Palm oil fresh fruit bunch harvesting activities. Photo by: Sawit Fest 2021 / Herwin Gunadi

PALMOILMAGAZINE, YOGYAKARTA – So far, numerous foreign media outlets consistently portray palm oil as a key factor contributing to various issues, such as deforestation. According to Jean-Marc RODA, the Regional Director for South East Asia Island Countries at CIRAD, bridging the understanding gap among people in the European Union poses a significant challenge.

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“This is particularly evident in the younger generations. They are consistently educated about environmental issues, resulting in significant disparities between perception and reality,” he remarked during his presentation at the ASEAN Palm Oil Student Association (APOSA) 2024 event, as observed by Palmoilmagazine.com on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

But the facts showed when they (students) from some universities in Europe got internship program with agriculture institutions in Asia, they start realizing the different complexity and atmosphere when getting involved in person in sustainable palm oil plantation. This opens the reality from media narration which sometimes bothering.

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Jean-Marc also told, student exchange between Asian and European universities would be significant to bridge the gaps of information. By having field experience in person, the student would face the reality about sustainable plantation practices and the ways in sustainability. Direct information would disclose prejudice but pile up better holistic understanding about the challenges.

Whatever it is, the gap would remain exist not only in young generations in different countries, but also in the people of European Union themselves. For instance, the youths who live in urban, lost contact with agriculture condition. They just trust what media always informed.

Jean-Marc thought, this phenomenon is not exclusive for the western only but also it reflects in Asian community. The contrast between the people who live in urban areas and they that get involved in agricultural business, emphasized that it is critical to deliver education and information to establish perception.

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But there are still hopes in the challenges. Disparity acknowledgement in Asia also offered chance to get introspection and dialogue. By acknowledging media narration influence and actively looking for much wider perspectives, there would be ways heading to bigger collaboration and understanding.

Basically, he continued, the journey to make the perception same – between media (narration) and plantation reality in the field, still goes on. This needs the same efforts to challenge the assumption, get more dialogues, and embrace the complexity that attaches in sustainability efforts.

“Only by the same efforts, we should hope to establish (young) generations completed by the understanding needed to solve urgent challenges in our era,” Jean-Marc said. (T2)

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