No one really likes Durian outside of the region, it's not popular.
Should they plant canola instead? It will require 4x the land.
Will the EU (who are some of the biggest exporters of palm oil alternatives) replant the extensive forests they tore down for agriculture in the last century or is it a kick the ladder down type situation?
I'm a big conservationist and active in SEA, the current attitude of the EU is absurdly unproductive and has gotten most of the population offside, Malaysia needs uncut tracts of rainforest and guaranteed protected regions, this is possible to do, dickheads with moustaches in Belgium aren't helping the situation.
Another alternative is avoiding monoculture plantations altogether, but that doesn't seem to work anywhere on Earth.
I'm a Malaysian who in the past managed two agriculture private equity funds. I've engaged with dozens of local farmers of over the years.
The problem with palm oil monoculture is that it is so easy that it makes its practitioners complacent. The value chains are established, the prices are commoditized (there is a local futures market) and there is ample government backing for international lobbying. Unfortunately, this means that the value-add (and margins) at each step of the value chain is now really thin. Unless you are vertically integrated and operate at enormous scale, you won't make much.
Short, high-value, local-farm-to-plate, gourmet-ingredient agriculture is what I dream of, sort of like what the Japanese have. It doesn't always have to devolve into mega-agribusiness.
