Teak furniture business development aims at achieving the three millenium development goals of global partnership, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability. A value chain of teak furniture connects teak growers with furniture retailers in Europe, the United States and Japan. It distributes value added along the chain, but it produces imbalance of income distribution and pressure on teak plantation sustainability. This paper integrates value chain analysis and system dynamic approach to observe and system dynamic approach to observe baseline trends and glimpse future scenarios of teak forest and incomes to various actors participating in the teak business. Future scenarios to obtain premium prices through fair trade and business responsibility of international furniture retailers will not only restore the teak furniture business but also foster great leap in teak plantation sustainability and livelihoods of teak growers and small to medium-sized teak furniture enterprises. Collective action among them in defining rules and a low level of land conflicts are necessary conditions for success.
Tag: business enterprises
An evaluation of the feasibility and benefits of forest partnerships to develop tree plantations: case studies in the Philippines
Between zero-deforestation and zero-tolerance from the state: Navigating strategies of palm oil companies of Indonesia
Since late 2013, Indonesia’s biggest palm oil companies have positioned themselves as strong advocates of zero-deforestation. However, their commitments to zero-deforestation have not always been well-received by the Indonesian government. The government has taken many initiatives to promote sustainable palm oil and to put an end to deforestation, but prefers to do so on its own terms. The palm oil companies have had to organize and frame their zero-deforestation policies vis-a-vis the government strategically. Our research question is: how have the major palm oil companies of Indonesia navigated their zero-deforestation commitment around Indonesian public authorities’ regulatory power? Using the concept of corporate political activity, we distinguish three episodes of corporate zero-deforestation commitment, each characterized by different strategies of companies. We show that palm oil companies have changed the strategies of implementing their zero-deforestation policies from trying to influence government policy to operating in the shadow of hierarchy.