Abstract
Indonesia is home of one of the largest rainforest and biodiversity areas in Southeast Asia. The oil palm boom, steered by smallholder farmers, has increased household income - and thus given an incentive to expand land, which considerably threatened rainforest areas and biodiversity richness - but also changed gender roles. While women were previously engaged in e.g. rubber cultivation, they now tend to have little access or control over oil palm earnings, as men tend to be the ones receiving payment when the fresh fruit bunches are harvested. It is unclear how smallholder oil palm cultivation can become sustainable on all three pillars. In order for smallholder oil palm cultivations to become holistically sustainable, there is a need for a complementary economic activity for women that also promotes the value of ecosystems while not taking important land ressources away from the current palm oil cultivation. Bee-keeping is a promising candidate. Yet, while there is empirical evidence that bee-keeping can be welfare increasing for smallholder farm households, it is unclear how bee-keeping can drive sustainable growth of women living in oil palm cultivating households located at the periphery of the rainforest. We test this with 300 women from West Kalimantan. We provide bee-kits, bees and training to 150 randomly selected women (Treatment group) and have a group of 150 randomly selected women serving as our control group. We will measure the impacts of bee-keeping on an economic, social, and ecological level. Outcome variables are measured through mixed-method surveys, economic experiments, and ecological data. Results are relevant to policy makers interested in driving sustainable development - especially female agency - in palm oil households and may serve as evidence for further scaling up.