PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – The Musim Mas Group, one of the largest integrated palm oil companies, facilitated the sale of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) credits amounting to approximately Rp 20 billion for independent smallholders. The distribution of credit took place through RSPO PalmTrace, a platform that links sellers and buyers engaged in traceable RSPO palm oil production.
This initiative aims to establish a crucial bridge between independent smallholders and company partners, fostering a strong connection between sustainable production and the empowerment of smallholders.
These independent smallholders are participants in the Musim Mas ‘Training for Smallholders’ program. Through their close adherence to RSPO standards, they have obtained certificates enabling them to sell palm oil products from Indonesia to various countries. The cumulative RSPO credit sales since 2020 have now reached Rp 39 billion, with the highest sales recorded this year amounting to Rp 10.98 billion.
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Deputy Director for Transformation, RSPO, Mahatma Windrawan said that it is important to realize sustainability in palm oil production. By closely implementing RSPO principles and criteria, Musim Mas played its key roles to confirm that palm oil products from Indonesia would compete in the globe.
“We do appreciate Musim Mas for implementing independent smallholders’ empowerment with all dedication and they who were development and guided, now implement sustainable agricultural practices,” Windrawan said, as in the official statement to Palmoilmagazine.com, Thursday (23/11/2023).
The smallholders that got RSPO certificate keep increasing in numbers. These reflected that palm oil industrial spirit is on the right track to sustainability. By the late of 2022, 15.485 independent smallholders got RSPO certificate where they cultivated about 35.706 hectares or almost one third of the smallholders that Musim Mas developed.
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As one integrated palm oil plantation company, sustainability is the central point in Musim Mas’ business strategies. No Deforestation, No Peat, and No Exploitation (NDPE) policy is available not only for the company’s plantations but also for the suppliers and contractors in cooperation with Musim Mas. The company always tries to qualify the highest standards of sustainability particularly RSPO.
Chairman of Asosiasi Pekebun Swadaya Kelapa Sawit District of Labuhanbatu, North Sumatera Province, Syahrianto said that the training program for independent smallholders in Musim Mas delivered better harvest after implementing good agricultural practices. He hoped the program could be expanded to deliver more advantages for more smallholders.
Meanwhile Independent Smallholders Manager, Musim Mas Group, Rudman Simanjuntak said that independent smallholders are the key in sustainable palm oil industries in this country. Their empowerment would be the main priority of the company and by implementing sustainable plantation practices, and getting certificates, Musim Mas believed that palm oil industries in this country would be more competitive in the markets globally. (T2)
