Through Project Lampung, a collaborative sustainability initiative, Solidaridad, BASF, The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), and The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) have made real progress strengthening the sustainable palm oil supply chain and supporting smallholder farmers. Since its launch in 2018, the initiative has provided technical education and training to 1,003 independent palm oil smallholders and helped 313 farmers receive official RSPO certification, the first group in the Way Kanan district.
A group photograph from one of the Field Schools run through the programme.
This is the very first project in Way Kanan aimed at enhancing the capacity of palm oil smallholders. Before the intervention, the smallholders had limited exposure to sustainable palm oil production practices, and the cooperative did not have a strategic focus on supporting smallholders. Through a program of continuous education, these independent palm oil farmers have improved their knowledge on sustainable production, through for example developing an awareness about the importance of planting certified seedlings. The project ensured access to certified seedlings in order to support these farmers in improving productivity.
With the support of a strengthened cooperative the project partners worked with the Indonesian government and other local organizations to conduct a Social Impact Assessment and an Environmental Impact Assessment. They also mapped farmers’ fields and uploaded all relevant data to the RSPO database, to verify that no deforestation or land conversion had taken place.
To further the impact of this project, ELC purchased 220 RSPO credits from these newly certified farmers in the Lampung region. These credits will help further fuel local farmers’ incomes and livelihoods while supporting ELC’s commitments to source its palm-based ingredients responsibly and sustainably. Since 2015, 100% of the palm-based ingredients1 ELC sources are certified under one of RSPO’s certification types.
While the project took five years to accomplish due to COVID-19 pandemic, all the participants adapted to the changing conditions, resulting in an evolution of the collaboration in order to help accommodate shifting priorities for the farmers and best support them during this challenging time.
313 Farmers received RSPO Certification
1,003 palm oil smallholders recieved technical training
Supported local ownership by boosting the local Cooperative
This project is managed by Solidaridad and implemented with the help of a local partner: Business Watch Indonesia (BWI). The project included many activities such as farm visits, stakeholder meetings, training and technical support to ensure that all participating farmers are compliant to sustainable principles and criteria to meet RSPO smallholders standard.This is the first pilot for implementing the RSPO smallholder standard in practice in Way Kanan, Lampung.
The success of Project Lampung is a testament to the power of collaboration and united efforts towards a common goal. Solidaridad, BWI, BASF, ELC and RSPO are proud to have worked hand-in-hand with the Indonesian government to make this project a reality. Going into the future the local cooperative has been designated as a potential partner by the Indonesian government, ensuring local ownership of these developments in the years to come.
- Excludes palm-based ingredients not directly procured by ELC, such as those procured by Third-Party Manufacturers (TPMs) and certain acquired brands not yet fully integrated into the relevant ELC systems. ↩︎
