Sabah aims to win big as world's first green palm oil state

Sabah produced about 5 million tonnes in 2020 making it the second-largest palm oil state in Malaysia. - Reuters

SANDAKAN (Thomson Reuters Foundation): For Ettol Kumpilon, the switch from growing rice to oil palm on his small family farm in Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah has enabled him to renovate his home, send his eldest child to school and build up a healthy pot of savings.

But with climate change fuelling rising temperatures that are hurting his yields, the 40-year-old has joined an innovative scheme that aims to raise sustainability standards among all palm oil producers across the state on Borneo island.