Transforming Farmer Institutes into Local Knowledge Hubs: Skills, Leadership and Inclusion for Sustainable Oil Palm Farming

Indonesian smallholder oil palm farmers are found to face major issues, such as poor leadership, a lack of trust and trouble getting useful information through informal networks. The question is whether the skills of farmers to get along with each other affect how many people use sustainable practices. The combination of survey and interview responses of 93 farmers was conducted in group interactions. For technical proficiency: β = 0.374, p < .001 (28% of variance), and for human skills: β = 0.518, p < .001 (27% of variance), planning and decision-making skills were found as strong predictors. Because of 47% influence over decisions and 43% are found involved in regular peer assistance, it seems that group function appeared weak. While 36% stop participating, this suggests that conflicts between people or the perception of favouritism may be a factor. Whether farmers actually can get along and work together effectively in institutional design appears to matter far less ( f ² = 0.018). Therefore, planning and social skills, as well as encouraging informal leadership networks, and recognising the fact that women and younger farmers in decision-making should be the priority for agricultural extension.