Palm oil’s story has always been complicated, and the commodity’s no stranger to controversy. In Malaysia alone, a 2022 SUHAKAM assessment found that 8 in every 1,000 plantation workers were subject to forced labour. The scale of the challenge is immense: Indonesia’s palm sector is estimated to involve up to 17 million workers, including smallholders.

It is, however, a tale of two industries. There are signs of improvement in the certified and more heavily regulated parts of the sector and extant issues in other, typically remote, less visible areas.

In Malaysia, a study found 8 in every 1,000 plantation workers are subject to forced labour

Palm oil is one of the most efficient and versatile crops on Earth. Produced responsibly, it can drive rural development, producing more oil per hectare than any other vegetable oil source. It’s also one of the most labour intensive industries in the world, and with that comes a responsibility to protect worker livelihoods and wellbeing. To do that, transparent, scalable, digital Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) solutions are required.

The last decade has shown that Palm’s HRDD performance is improving, but progress remains uneven. Many palm producers are going beyond compliance, taking matters into their own hands, and showing the world the best version of themselves by improving transparency and building trust by listening closely to workers.

Certified and export-oriented producers are investing in Due Diligence, tightening standards and repaying recruitment fees, while others still struggle with dispersed workforces and the limitations of manual auditing. The road to a fairer, more responsible palm oil industry is far from linear, but progress is possible. Ulula’s digital worker voice and grievance tools help bridge the gap.

Where Policy Meets Practice

Across the palm oil industry, stronger policies are reshaping expectations for HRDD practices. Malaysia’s national rights body has publicly acknowledged forced-labour incidents in the palm sector, a transparent move that’s accelerated national HRDD reforms and raised the bar for  HRDD efforts.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has followed suit. As of 2024, HRDD implementation is now a requirement for membership in the RSPO, with members also being required to repay recruitment fees to workers who have been treated unfairly. 

HRDD implementation is now a requirement for membership in the RSPO

There are also signs that major actors in the private industry are leveraging their considerable sway to improve HRDD performance. Nestlé has suspended sourcing from a palm oil producer with unresolved labour grievances, a serious commercial consequence of non-compliance for growers and plantations.

Compliance with regulations like the No Deforestation, Peat, and Exploitation’s (NDPE) no exploitation clause remains a key driver for adoption of better HRDD, but evolving standards don’t automatically lead to effective change. This is especially true among smallholders and in non-certified parts of the supply chain, where the risks of forced labour, wage violations and unsafe conditions remain highest. Traditional audits and top-down compliance tools struggle to capture these realities at scale or in real time.

The palm industry is feeling the pressure to change from all sides, and that’s where digital due diligence makes the difference. Progress depends on transparent systems that make real, measurable, and actionable progress across plantations, mills and smallholder communities.

Building Trust At Scale With Digital Tools

Ulula started to support the palm sector in the late 2010’s. They began by using their digital worker voice tool and grievance mechanisms to help companies reach otherwise inaccessible parts of their supply chain and connect with workers on the ground.

In Guatemala, Ulula developed an anonymized worker grievance line that enabled employees to safely report problems, while local managers turned that feedback into actionable remediation plans to improve safety and compliance across large scale supply chains.

In 2020, Sime Darby was banned from importing to the US for forced labor allegations in the supply chain, they faced a worker’s rights crisis. Working with Ulula and other partners,they implemented two grievance hotlines to help them navigate repayment of inflated recruitment fees. The initiative reached over 20,000 workers, and facilitated the repayment of over $20million in recruitment fees. US Customs and Border Protection lifted the ban in 2023, after evidence was cited that the company had stopped using forced labor.

Digital tools allow deployments at scale, and help workers raise issues with confidence and anonymity.

Digital tools allow deployments at scale, but they can also zoom in to help workers raise issues with confidence and anonymity. Wilmar, another of the world’s largest palm oil producers, used Ulula’s survey and grievance tools to address gender-based violence in Kalimantan, enabling both workers and communities to raise sensitive issues safely.

The scale of palm oil supply chains can lead to dislocation and a lack of faith in the system. With digital tools, companies can overcome these barriers by reaching workers at scale and on the ground in complex supply chains.

Turning Worker Voice Into Action 

Independent smallholders making up around 40% of total palm oil production. It’s in these remote areas of land that the most work needs to be done to reach workers, who often operate beyond the reach of global certification schemes and traditional audits.

In 2022, Wild Asia and Ulula collaborated to design a custom grievance system for smallholders. The system was designed to better reflect realities on the ground, and focus on what mattered most. Information was gathered through tailored questionnaires deployed on Ulula’s OWL APP, and revealed that smallholders’ main concerns were fairness, pricing and biodiversity. Communications with mills and growers were paramount, then, so they could better negotiate price on their palm.

Ulula is supporting 46 plantation and smallholder sites belonging to an international palm oil company through custom Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) surveys. Field visits to smallholders and training for managers mean the project will be able to adapt to sensitive or niche issues that may arise.

The collaborations with Wild Asia and others demonstrate the value of listening closely and evolving solutions along with realities in the palm industry. Producers and NGOs are given direct access to communities that were previously inaccessible, and those communities are better able to use their voices to help shape the industry’s future. Digital HRDD tools equip companies to adapt to unique circumstances, and provide smallholders with the tools to improve circumstances from the ground up. 

Close Listening at Scale: The Power of Digital HRDD

Palm Oil spans vast geographies, complex subcontracting, remote farmers, and multilingual workforces; these conditions make traditional auditing methods largely impractical. Digital HRDD solutions provide a practical, effective solution to these challenges.

Ulula’s digital HRDD tools are helping companies achieve their responsible business goals

Ulula’s digital HRDD tools are built in alignment with the RSPO Principles and Criteria and equip companies with:

• Tailored surveys that capture what matters most to workers and smallholders by delivering inclusive, multilingual engagement to remote areas at scale.
• Accessible, anonymous grievance mechanisms that give workers an anonymous issue reporting, and a safe route to remediation without fear of retaliation.
• Continuous, real-time feedback that helps companies monitor engagement, satisfaction, and emerging risks across estates, mills, and smallholders.
• Data-driven evidence that provides verifiable records of due diligence; a clear route to compliance.

A responsible palm oil industry requires close listening at scale, transparency, worker voice, and credible data. Ulula’s digital HRDD tools are helping companies achieve these goals.

See how Ulula helps palm producers strengthen due diligence from farm to port. Book a demo today.