Malaysia: Improving the livelihoods of palm oil smallholders together with Cargill

Solidaridad, together with trader Cargill and Malaysian-based social enterprise Wild Asia have started an independent oil palm smallholder sustainability support programme in the state of Perak, Malaysia.

The three-year project will work towards the development of Responsible Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) production in the supply chain between smallholders, dealers (‘middlemen’), with a currently non-certified Tian Siang crude palm oil mill and a Cargill refinery in the Peninsula of Malaysia. It will provide direct training and support on best agricultural practices and improved farm management practices covering key areas of health and safety, and environmental and social impact management.

The three-year project will work towards the development of Responsible Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) production in the supply chain between smallholders, dealers (‘middlemen’), with a currently non-certified Tian Siang crude palm oil mill and a Cargill refinery in the Peninsula of Malaysia. It will provide direct training and support on best agricultural practices and improved farm management practices covering key areas of health and safety, and environmental and social impact management.

The project is expected to benefit the livelihood of 2,500 famers involved, by bringing higher oil palm fruit yields, but also by including them in the supply chains of certified sustainable and traceable palm oil that are now increasingly being set up within the industry. It is also expected to benefit the workers at the smallholder farms and biodiversity in the area. The local dealers will be an integral part of the project and future RSPO supply chain, as they will be trained to perform logistical and technical support to the farmers.

The success of the project will be an opportunity to demonstrate that implementing better management practices at farm level can lead to quality and volume improvements at mill level. This business case can then encourage other mills and local dealers to copy the concept.

The project will be implemented by a Cargill / Tian Siang field team, and will be supported by Wild Asia. In an earlier project Solidaridad supported Wild Asia to develop a new tool to support independent smallholders to organize themselves and implement Internal Control Systems for RSPO.

The project is a partnership of Cargill Palm Products Malaysia, Tian Siang Air Kuning palm oil mill, Solidaridad, RSPO and Wild Asia.

 

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