Running head: SUSTAINABILITY 1
SUSTAINABILITY 7
Sustainability
Institutional Affiliation
Professor’s Name
Date
Sustainability
Why is the case topic a sustainability issue and why is it important?
Sustainability may be understood as the ability to use resources to satisfy the current human needs without depleting them to enable the future generations to use them in equally beneficial conditions (You matter, 2021). Sustainability is associated with concepts such as continued usage of something over a long period of time without causing environmental and, or social problems. The case topic is a sustainability issue because it explores the history, present and future of palm oil taking cognizant of the global demands and impacts on the environment. Johnson (2020) states that palm oil is used in the processing of various products owing to its relatively more beneficial attributes compared to trans fats. With over three billion people using palm oil products, the global demand for palm oil has increased and this has in turn translated to increased planting of palm trees to produce enough palm oil to meet the demand. The increased plantation of palm trees means that other vegetation coverage has to be cleared to create more space.
Deforestation has numerous destructive impacts on the environment. According to WWF (2021), forests provide homes and food to more than half of plants and land animals; make the ecosystem beautiful, influence global rain patterns protect the various life forms on the earth’s surface from destroyed by destructive forces of nature such as floods. Clearing more and more land to create space for the plantation of palm trees destroys natural habitats of plants and animals and denies the world all the benefits that forests provide. Johnson (2020) states that due to the deforestation, more than 80% of natural habitats for Orangutans have been destroyed in the last 20years and there is a heightened conflict between animals and humans. Also, the major players in the palm oil production sector often exploit local communities by seizing their communal lands and offering them less compensation, displacing them from their traditional lands and exposing them to unfair working conditions in the palm oil farms and industries (Cernansky, 2019)
It is important to assess the issue of palm oil in view of its benefits vis-à-vis its impacts not only in the present but also in the future because at the effects of its continued production and use portends further destruction to the ecosystem. However, given that palm trees are more productive than other plants that can replace it, it seems highly unlikely that the world can boycott palm oil products and adopt other types of oil. Still relevant agencies need to explore the alternatives available so that the demand of palm oil does not lead to further destruction of the environment and natural habitats.
Why is your case topic a wicked problem? Explain using the characteristics of a wicked problem.
Walls (2018) defines ‘wicked’ as referring to the complex and challenging issues that affect the normal order of life and are not easily solved. Wicked problems are thus a range of issues that threaten the environment and thereby impacting negatively on the human health as well as on the health of other life forms on the earth surface (Dentoni et al., 2018). The issue of palm is a wicked problem because it is not easy to solve. While the negative impacts of the continued use of palm oil products are apparent, it appears that abandoning the plantation of palm trees and production of palm oil does not solve the problem. As Johnson (2020) argues, palm oil has immense positive impacts on regions where the palm trees are planted including creation of job opportunities, infrastructural developments and establishment of educational institutions all of which have improved the socio-economic status of the local communities as well the literacy levels. Also, the demand for palm oil continues to increase with over three billion people using palm oil products.
On the one hand, the environmental impacts concerns are valid and calls for the boycott of palm oil products seem plausible. On the other hand, the benefits that individuals derive from the sector are immense making it difficult to arrive at a unanimous decision on whether to stop the production of palm oil. Efforts can be made towards the attainment of sustainability in the palm oil sector but it is almost impossible that all the challenges can be eliminated. Some of the solutions that Johnson (2020) and Rao (2020) suggest include desisting from clearing primary forests and growing palm trees on peatlands, and protecting forest coverage in areas that provide homes to various species of indigenous plants and animals.
Besides, Johnson (2020) sates that palm oil presents a wicked problem situation because the only viable alternative which is single cell oils will be approximately between two to five times more expensive compared to palm oil. Coupled with the fact that shifting to single cell oils requires extensive research which comes with its financial and legal considerations, the world would have to formulate sustainable ways of producing palm oil in the interim. According to Peters (2017), policy-makers are increasingly faced with a range of intricate wicked problems which require complex policy problems. Problems such as the palm oil issue is not only difficult to solve but also present players, scholars and governments to consider other viable alternatives that may be adopted to save the world from further environmental degradation making it a wicked problem.
Why have we been unable to solve this issue?
We have been unable because the possible alternatives do not provide any better options. First, as Johnson (2020) states the use of vegetable oil and animal fats will equally lead to clearance of more land as palm trees are cost effective when it comes to productivity. That is, if palm trees and vegetables are planted on the same size of land, more oil will be produced from the palm trees than from the vegetables. On a similar breath, palm oil come with several economic and health benefits compared to animals fats for example. Palm oil is the least expensive of all oils in the global market. Also, palm oil is associated with protection of the brain, and reduction of vulnerabilities to heart diseases (Spritzler, 2020). We are therefore unable to solve the issue because different authorities concerned have diverse views on the issue. While others are of the opinion that that palm oil should be boycotted, credible organizations such as WWF and Greenpeace are opposed to the idea citing unsustainability of such a step. Boycotting palm oil would also mean that the communities that depend on the large scale production of palm oil would be denied the benefits. Overall, production of palm oil is important to the survival of humans despite the dangers that results from it making it impossible to solve its sustainability issue.
Using the Iceberg model, explain if and how systems thinking might be useful in addressing the wickedness of the problem.
The iceberg model is systems thinking tool that is designed to help in discovering different types of behavioral patterns, the structures that support them supporting as well as the mental models that motivate a particular event or phenomenon. According to Ecochallenge (2021), systems thinking provides a way of approaching problematic situations by looking various elements of a system. Using the Iceberg model, it is important to view the palm oil issue as one that has bigger problems hidden away from the ordinary observer. Like an iceberg, the challenges that are exposed to us may not be as complex as the ones that are immersed in water. To find practical and long-lasting solution to a wicked problem such as the palm oil issue requires an understanding that goes beyond the surface.
The various levels of iceberg model include the event level, the pattern level, the structure level and the mental model level. The obvious concerns about the palm oil issue would be viewed can be reacted to and solved by making simple readjustments which address the symptoms which according to the iceberg model are classified under the event level. At this level, problems such as exploitative wages would be solved because they are not as deeply entrenched as the environmental impacts. Below the event level is the pattern level which addresses issues that keep recurring. Once a problem such as unscrupulous land appropriation has been identified, the next task would be to scrutinize the reasons for which the problem keeps happening to understand the problem and prescribe the best solution to it. Often, problems are the result of structural failures which may include, among other things, unfavorable rules and regulations, and unsustainable organizational culture. Some of the problems associated with the production of palm oil are deeply ingrained cultures that have been practiced over the years that it would be difficult to improve on. As Johnson (2020) states, the palm oil sector is faced by numerous human rights abuses including unfair working conditions. These unfair treatment of workers may be an organizational behavior that has been cherished by the managers of palm oil firms to an extent that it has become part of their culture. Solving the palm oil issue therefore calls for identifying the policy and behavioral practices and how they constitute the larger unsustainability problem. Lastly, solving the palm oil issue would require an understanding of the attitudes, beliefs, principles and values that perpetuate the problem. The benefits of palm oil may have made it impossible to believe that the world can do without producing palm oil. Perceptions that no viable alternative exist might have been formed by attitudes and beliefs that society has associated with palm oil over the years. Communities that have gotten job opportunities, improved infrastructure and literacy levels do not have alternatives sources of livelihood. Their beliefs and values are been shaped by the continued production of palm oil. Addressing the palm oil as a wicked problem with a view to finding a solution would therefore require providing an alternative to the populations who depend on the palm oil sector.
References
Cernansky, R. (2019, April 19). As palm oil production ramps up in Africa, communities work to avoid problems plaguing other regions | Greenbiz. GreenBiz. https://www.greenbiz.com/article/palm-oil-production-ramps-africa-communities-work-avoid-problems-plaguing-other-regions
Dentoni, D., Bitzer, V., & Schouten, G. (2018). Harnessing wicked problems in multi-stakeholder partnerships. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(2), 333-356.
Iceberg model – Ecochallenge.org. (2020). Welcome to Ecochallenge.org – Ecochallenge.org. https://ecochallenge.org/iceberg-model/
Johnson, S. (2020, December 9). The future of palm oil. Creative Commons. https://theecologist.org/2020/dec/09/future-palm-oil
Peters, B. G. (2017). What is so wicked about wicked problems? A conceptual analysis and a research program. Policy and Society, 36(3), 385-396.
Rao, M. (2020, May 11). Problems with palm oil |The cost of production. FoodUnfolded – a global, digital platform for the latest food and agricultural innovations. https://www.foodunfolded.com/article/problems-with-palm-oil
Spritzler, F. (2020). Palm oil: Good or bad? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/palm-oil#TOC_TITLE_HDR_7
Sustainability – What is it? Definition, principles and examples. (2019, January 24). Youmatter. https://youmatter.world/en/definition/definitions-sustainability-definition-examples-principles/
Walls, H. L. (2018). Wicked problems and a ‘wicked’solution. Globalization and health, 14(1), 1-3.
WWF. (2019, September 18). The effects of deforestation. https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/effects-of/deforestation
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