Musim Mas Group, Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming (L3F), SNV Indonesia and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) are working together to build the knowledge and capacity of independent oil palm smallholders through the Biodiverse & Inclusive Palm Oil Supply Chain (BIPOSC) project improve.
The project began in 2021 and takes a long-term approach to maintain a deforestation-free supply chain, regenerate degraded land, restore local biodiversity and improve the livelihoods of independent smallholder farmers in Labuhanbatu, North Sumatra. BIPOSC will achieve this through, among other things, adopting regenerative agriculture, locally adapted agroforestry models and building capacity for sustainable businesses.
The participating independent small farmers previously received additional training from Musim Mas. After the training, these smallholders founded a smallholder association, the Labuhanbatu Independent Oil Palm Smallholders Association (APSKS LB), North Sumatra. Musim Mas encourages smallholder farmers to form associations to gain better access to resources and obtain certification from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO).
“Musim Mas has long recognized that smallholders are key to achieving palm oil sustainability, which is why we run the most comprehensive smallholder program in Indonesia. We believe the way forward is to work with more partners to achieve greater impact. Together with our BIPOSC partners, we hope to improve the skills and knowledge of smallholder farmers through regenerative agriculture and related techniques. Regenerative agriculture and agroforestry have the potential to help smallholder farmers become part of a sustainable palm oil supply chain. It could help them develop alternative sources of income, especially during the replanting period when their palm oil crops are typically unproductive for three years,” said Rob Nicholls, General Manager, Projects & Programs, Musim Mas Group.
With climate change and threatened biodiversity, regenerative agriculture can play a role for small farms by maintaining soil health, preventing erosion and water runoff, and potentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen losses.
“As a global development partner organization, SNV aims to support Indonesia in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To achieve this, we must implement effective and impactful programs to transform agriculture and food systems, energy and water supplies. Under the BIPOSC program, we promote a comprehensive regenerative agriculture and agroforestry model to preserve soil fertility and biodiversity and provide farmers with maximum benefits for their livelihoods and the economy,” said Rizki Pandu Permana, Country Director of SNV Indonesia.
Key regenerative agriculture techniques taught include the use of organic produce, mulching to protect topsoil, growing ground cover crops, integrated pest management that reduces the need for chemical pesticides, and the application of compost that improves the Reduced need for chemical fertilizers. To date, 1,032 independent smallholder farmers have been trained to use these techniques in their farms, representing a total area of 1,063.68 hectares. As part of the project, 25 village facilitators were trained to provide practical help to small farmers, and seven demonstration plots were set up as pilot areas and learning sites for regenerative agriculture.
“When I visited small-scale palm oil farmers in the region a few years ago, their biggest concern was access to more fertilizers. While fertilizers play a key role in increasing yields, there has been a significant gap in understanding how to protect soil from long-term degradation. Smallholder farmers needed more knowledge about maintaining soil health, maintaining soil structure and other important factors. This was exactly the goal of the BIPOSC project and we are pleased that the farmers involved are now not only seeing higher yields but also healthier soils on their plots,” said Bernard Giraud, President and Co-Founder of Livelihoods.
The project also addresses capacity building. In addition to home composting, the project enabled the local farmers’ association APSKS LB to develop and operate a composting plant with a capacity of 100-150 tons/month. The unit produces compost on a large scale using inputs from nearby mills and agricultural plots and offers compost to member farmers at half the usual market prices. In 2023, the first year of operation, the plant produced 588 tons of compost and generated a profit of IDR 421 million. The project partners believe that this model can also be replicated elsewhere.
“One of the most impactful outcomes of this project for small farmers is the composting facility and the associated business model. It enables small farmers to obtain compost at affordable prices and the profits are shared among member farmers. This is a practical solution to promote the adoption of composting and all ASPKS-LB smallholders are now using compost on their cultivation lands,” said Syahrianto, chairman of the Labuanbatu Independent Oil Palm Smallholders Association.
By 2023, independent smallholders will manage around 41% of the oil palm acreage in Indonesia, equivalent to 6.94 million hectares. This number is expected to rise to 60% by 2030, which is why projects like BIPOSC are crucial to shaping the future of sustainable palm oil production.
Devane Sharma
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