PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – Serikat Petani Kelapa Sawit (SPKS) is enhancing the capacity and skills of counselors for independent smallholders through its “Training of Sustainable Trainers” program. This training, held from June 2 to 6, 2024, in Pangkalan Bun, targeted independent counselors in the Seruyan and Kotawaringin Barat regencies.
The program was conducted in collaboration with Akademi Komunitas Perkebunan Yogyakarta (AKPY) as the training facilitator.
According to Muhammad Ridwan, SPKS Manager and member, the training aims to improve both the quantity and quality of counselors, thereby boosting the productivity of independent smallholders’ plantations in a sustainable manner.
BACA JUGA: SPKS Calls for Support from Elected President and Vice President for Sustainable Smallholders
“Independent counselors would be the spear to deliver trainings for independent smallholders that reached more than 2,5 million men,” Ridwan said, as in the official statement to Palmoilmagazine.com, Thursday (11/7/2024).
He also mentioned, there were 47.606 counselors in national scale while in the villages, the agricultural products could be reaching 75 thousand. “The gap showed the lack of counselors that the government had. The numbers could be less if seen from the counselors that mastered sustainable palm oil cultivation,” he said.
That is why, the gap should be added by independent counselors so that the smallholders would not be left behind and palm oil production would be escalating.
Chairman of Facilitator Team of AKPY, Juremi said that the training should get expansion and more intensive. He also hoped from the training, palm oil plantation productivity of the independent smallholders would be the same as the companies’ one that reached 30 tons per hectare per year.
In the same chance, Head of Pantation, Agriculture and Plantation Agency Regency of Kotawaringin Barat said that the independent counselors would be the power to help the government to support independent smallholders to get palm oil fund access and Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil certificate. “The collaboration between the government and other stakeholders should get escalated to escalate the class of our smallholders,” he said.
The participants in the training would be part of counseling team of independent smallholders in SPKS to deliver training and development for the independent smallholders about good agricultural practices, sustainable certificates, and fund access from the government or Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency. This would be the support to national scale – policy to escalate palm oil human resources sustainably. (P2)
