PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – The importance of strengthening legality and institutions to support small-scale oil palm smallholder. According to Marselinus Andry from the Advocacy Department of the Union of Oil Palm Smallholder or Serikat Petani Kelapa Sawit (SPKS), most independent oil palm smallholder in Indonesia still face various obstacles related to land ownership and bargaining position in the palm oil supply chain. With many smallholder still only having a Land Certificate (SKT), SPKS is trying to help smallholder gain stronger ownership rights through data collection and land certification.
Marselinus outlined five stages that SPKS initiated to help oil palm smallholder. First, SPKS conducts data collection and mapping of smallholders’ oil palm plantations by utilizing GPS and smartphone technology. “This data is then stored on a server for further processing and analysis. The results of this analysis will provide an overview of the distribution of smallholder oil palm land, land legality, and plantation productivity,” Marslinus said at the FGD SAWIT BERKELANJUTAN VOL 16, entitled ‘Sustainable Oil Palm Plantations Grow the Economy of Rural Communities’, held by InfoSAWIT media supported by BPDPKS, Friday (1/11/2024) in Jakarta.
After the data collection stage, SPKS assists smallholder in obtaining land legality and business legality, such as Cultivation Registration Certificate (STDB) which is important to obtain more formal ownership rights. “We also help them build institutions such as cooperatives, which can strengthen their bargaining position in the palm oil industry supply chain,” Marselinus explained.
Training is an important part of the next stage. SPKS collaborates with various parties, including academics and researchers, to provide technical training materials and institutional management. “This training will help smallholder understand economic and legal governance, so that they can participate in the cooperatives or institutions they form,” Marselinus added. The training also includes capacity building, paralegal, as well as an introduction to sustainability practices relevant to sustainable palm oil certification.
Marselinus said that certification such as RSPO is a long-term goal for the cooperatives that have been formed. So far, SPKS has helped five cooperatives obtain certification, and several others are in the process. “We are targeting several cooperatives in the Sulawesi region to get certified this year,” he said.
SPKS also applies a conservation-based approach using the High Carbon Stock (HCS) and High Conservation Value (HCV) methods. This approach is implemented in a participatory manner with smallholder and indigenous communities in the Kalimantan region, so that in addition to supporting sustainable certification, this program also conserves forests and strengthens smallholder’ bargaining position in the global market.
In an effort to integrate smallholder with the supply chain, SPKS collaborates with palm oil companies in several districts. This is expected to make it easier for smallholder to access the market directly. Marselinus hopes that the government, companies, and civil society organizations can support smallholders in facing various challenges, such as access to legality and capacity building, to support the sustainability of the palm oil sector in Indonesia.
“The support of the government and business players is crucial in developing the potential of small-scale oil palm smallholder, especially in realizing the sustainability goals of the palm oil industry that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Marselinus concluded. (P3)
