Community Engagement

The global COVID-19 pandemic has shown that it is critical to ensure farming communities, who form the basis of food supply chains and global food security, are taken care of and empowered. When communities are empowered with the means to earn a decent living, poverty reduction will follow.

In many developing countries, palm oil is synonymous with poverty eradication. In the past few decades, the palm oil sector has played a critical role in helping to raise incomes and improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers in tropical developing countries such Indonesia and Malaysia. Communities living in rural remote areas in particular, have benefitted vastly from palm oil development.

We also recognises that the establishment of plantations can create challenges for local communities and indigenous people. We are committed to respecting human rights and fulfilling Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) requirements before commencing any development of land.Our work with local communities through community conservation partnerships is at the heart of our forest conservation efforts. GAR has pioneered inclusive and collaborative approaches such as Participatory Mapping (PM) and Participatory Conservation Planning (PCP).

We introduced Alternative Livelihood Programmes as a means of managing the environmental impact of traditional farming. Our programmes educate independent farmers on sustainable agricultural practices, and introduce communities to new crops that enhance food security.

This way, communities can improve food self-sufficiency and resilience while supporting conservation goals. To date, 60 communities have reaped the benefits of GAR’s Alternative Livelihood Programmes.