The Impact Fund Manager Abler Nordic has brought together with the Temasek Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Singapore, which is advancing impact programs in Asia, the sustainable Palm oil producer Musim Mas and the Livelihoods Fund to start the project “Sustainable Oil Palm Repplanting in Indonesia (sopri)”. The pilot initiative facilitates small farmers access to financial resources and resources in order to plant oil palms sustainably, increase their income and at the same time prevent the spread of the forest.
In Indonesia, small farmers manage over 40 % of the country’s oil palm areas, but face a major challenge: aging oil palms that reduce the yields, so that a new planting is urgently necessary and expensive. Without access to affordable financing, some small farmers could penetrate into rainforest areas and thus accelerate the deforestation and climate change.
The sopri project is an important part of the more comprehensive Climate Smart Fund of ABLER Nordic, which was launched in the pilot phase with the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and the Environment. The Climate Smart Fund combines public, philanthropic and private capital to create a deforestation -free value chains and to support projects to strengthen the resistance of small farmers. The Temasek Foundation strengthens this mixing financing model by providing catalyst capital to guarantee loans to small farmers for the sopri project and reducing the risk, which reduces the financing costs for small farmers and the risk of private investments is reduced.
In the first phase of the sopri project, 400 small farmers are supported on 400 hectares in Sumatra. Long -term loans for new planting, training courses on financial competence, sustainability certifications, support in obtaining land titles and participative village planning are offered to promote responsible land use. In return, the small farmers undertake to avoid entering the forest, which is monitored by satellite and on-site controls.
The project is intended to show that sustainable re -planting is both financially sustainable and scalable, whereby more than 20,000 small farmers are to be achieved in future phases.
The Climate Smart Fund will act as a leading organization, manage financial operations and coordinate implementation with local partners such as Koltiva and Bank Amar. Musim MAS offers technical support in order to help small farmers to provide sustainable palm oil certification and access to markets, while Livelihoods finds in the fields of training and certification brings its specialist knowledge to help farmers with the transition to sustainable practices.
In addition to the reforestation, climate -resistant Agroforstwirtschaftsmodels are also researched as part of the project, in which oil palms are combined with shadow trees and crops to improve soil health, to regulate the microclimate and to support small farmers in adapting to climate change.
Abrer Nordic is now striving to expand the broader Climate Smart Fund from the first $ $ 40 million in its first conclusion, whereby a mixture of investor capital, guarantees and grants to scale concrete and sustainable climate protection measures is to be used.
Arthur Sletteberg, Managing Director von Auner Nordicsaid: “The establishment of long -term relationships with local small farmers, communities and partners is the focus of our work. What we do is complex and in many ways to be unprecedented, but the results so far show that we have the right model and the right risk reduction to expand the Climate Smart Fund and to make long -term, sensible changes for small farmers and for the climate.”
Sébastien de Royer, Senior Project Manager – Southeast Asia von Livelihoods Venturessaid: “With Livelihoods Ventures, we believe in long -term solutions that pack the challenges of the root. With this partnership, we want to provide small farmers with technical support and advice that you need for the transition to sustainable and resistant cultivation systems.”
Rob Nicholls, General Manager of Projects and Partnerships bei Musim Massaid: “This initiative is not just about financial support, but about equipping small farmers with the knowledge and resources they need to implement sustainable practices. We believe that we can have a positive impact on the environment and the communities involved in palm oil production.”
Frau Heng Li Lang, Head of Climate and Liveability der Temasek Foundationsaid: “This pilot initiative will mix the cards again. By opening up financing options with catalytic capital, small farmers can grow sustainably without taking major financial risks. Temasek Foundation has undertaken to build this public-private-philanthropic partnership for natural-based solutions together with Abrer Nordic, Livelihoods Funds and Musim MAS. We not only promote positive effects on the environment, but also pave the way for scalable and sensible long -term solutions.“