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Partnerships – cornerstone to achieving goals
When palm oil is responsibly farmed, it is an effective way to create jobs and alleviate poverty, and provides opportunities for communities to secure better livelihoods. As one of the largest plantation companies in Indonesia, operating largely in rural and remote areas, we play an active role in the well-being of our employees, and in the wider communities and landscapes where we operate.However, finding the best way to operate sustainably often requires new, innovative solutions. We recognise that this is only possible through working collaboratively with relevant experts and key stakeholders.
We implements projects in the following areas:
Smallholder development
Health, labour, and welfare
Belitung (2 Villages)
Project with 3 villages:
Vegetables, organic pepper,and fish crackers
Vegetables
Organic Pepper
Fish Crackers
Central Kalimantan
(15 Villages)
Projects with 15 villages:
Paddy rice, coffee, honey, vegetables, pigs, roselle syrup and freshwater fish in Sungai Rungau
Paddy Rice
Vegetables
Coffee
Honey
Freshwater Fish
Roselle Syrup
Pigs
Riau (15 Villages)
Enterprise projects with 15 villages:
Red ginger, freshwater fish, goat, Vegetables, banana & tempe, and paddy rice in Siak District
Ginger
Goat
Freshwater Fish
Vegetables
Banana & Tempe
Paddy Rice
Palm Sugar
Jambi
(3 Villages)
Projects with 3 villages:
Paddy rice, vegetables, medicinal plants & herbs
Paddy Rice
Vegetables
Medicinal
Plants & Herbs
West Kalimantan
(22 Villages)
Projects with 24 villages:
Paddy rice, Moringa, honey, vegetables freshwater fish, pigs, goat, eggs and chicken in Kapuas Hulu
Paddy Rice
Moringa
Vegetables
Honey
Freshwater Fish
Chicken
Goat
Eggs
Partnership projects
PT SMART Tbk together with our parent company, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), L’Oréal, and the SouthPole Group are collaborating to rehabilitate and conserve over 2,000 hectares of degraded peatland in GAR’s subsidiary, PT Agro Lestari Mandiri (PT AMNL) in West Kalimantan.
The project covers hydrological management and ecological restoration of peatland within the surrounding villages. Along with rehabilitating over 2,000 hectares of peatland, 600 hectares are allocated for sustainable livelihood programmes for nine villages surrounding the concession. The livelihood programmes helps villagers grow their own and more varied food. Selling excess crops in local markets generates additional income. Read the full case study here.
Southpole
FIELD
Transitions
Alternative Livelihood
Rehabilitation
Fire Prevention
We aim to build rural resilience. We help villages ensure food security while preserving their environment. The Forest Village Conservation project in Gunung Mas and Seruyan Districts includes the development and improvement of organic farming and coffee cultivation.We assist village heads with developing a conservation plan, which aims to tap ecosystem services from protected areas. Coka Coffee (a coffee buyer, processor and trader) was brought in to develop the SESAMA programme where farmers are trained on Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAP) for coffee cultivation and taught to prepare land for cultivation without using fire.
To date, four villages (two villages in Gunung Mas District and two villages in Seruyan District) have received technical and financial assistance from our company and partner, Wageningen University (WUR) to develop more areas for organic farming and coffee.
Wageningen University & Research
In 2014, GAR subsidiary, PT Kartika Prima Cipta (PT KPC), collaborated with the Dian Desa Foundation to help surrounding communities cultivate moringa plants, process, and market the end-products. By 2019, those communities planted more than 23,000 seedlings and are producing moringa products such as leaf powder, branch powder, seed powder, and seed skin powder to sell.
This is part our Bright Future Initiative, which also includes piloting organic farming plots and other activities to expand and diversify income sources of communities.
Dian Desa Foundation
We are working with Neste, one of our largest customers, to boost independent smallholder sustainability. We are collaborating with Neste to bring about Smallholder Group Certification for the supply of certified palm oil. The project is based in Indonesia and focuses on a group of farmers in the Siak District in the Riau province. We aim to help independent farmers adopt sustainable practices and gain wider market access. This is aligned with our and Neste’s sustainability policies.
Neste
SPKS
We also conducted training on the use of locally available materials to make organic fertiliser and best agricultural techniques to improve yields and soil health. Farmers were empowered to share their knowledge with other community members too.
We established a sample plot for horticulture projects to help promote livelihood diversification and food security. New crops include sweet corn, tomatoes, red beans, peanuts, onions, and rice.
Nestlé
Earthworm Foundation
Learn more about the Smallholder Rurality Project
GAR, in collaboration with Nestlé, the Danish Institute of Human Rights ,and the Earthworm Foundation, conducted a labour assessment of four mills supplying one of GAR’s refineries, PT SMART Tbk Belawan.
The project assessed the current conditions and implementation of labour regulations within five Nestle-GAR suppliers located across Sumatra, Riau, and Kalimantan.
We mapped and identified independent farmers and their sources of alternative incomes, and we are now helping them look for partners to scale their farming.
Neste
Danish Institute of Human Rights
The Decent Rural Living Initiative (DRLI) launched in 2017. GAR, along with Wilmar, Sime Darby, Cargill, and Musim Mas, is exploring collaborative ways to address human rights and labour related issues within the palm oil industry in Indonesia.
Four potential areas for collaboration were identified:
- Developing a rights awareness platform, with a focus on occupational health and safety
- Increasing telecommunications connectivity in rural locations
- Spearheading a social dialogue process with unions and workers across South Sumatra in support of a Collective Bargaining Agreement
- Improving family well-being on concession lands
These collaborative solutions create impact in three ways:
- Sharing data within the group to implement solutions on a bigger scale and learning from good practices of participating growers.
- Providing tools to understand and measure long-term impact for existing projects.
- Each component serves to complement the others and collectively contribute to support to Decent Rural Living in a tangible and systemic way.
These are just some of the projects where you can immediately help to positively impact lives with your contribution. If you would like to support any of the projects or co-sponsor projects, please email [email protected]
Memberships
AVPN
We are a member of AVPN, an ecosystem builder for the social investment sector. AVPN’s mission is to ensure that resources are deployed effectively to address key social challenges facing Asia today and in the future.
We are working with AVPN to explore impact investments and partnerships with the aim of scaling our current sustainability and CSR projects.
Food Industry Asia (FIA)
As an ingredient producer and food manufacturer, GAR is a part of FIA, a collective of leading food and beverage companies. It seeks to enhance the industry’s role as a trusted partner in the development of science-based policy in the region.
Global Agribusiness Alliance (GAA)
GAA is an international, private sector alliance committed to harnessing the collective strengths of the global agri-business sector to tackle environmental, social, and sustainability challenges to improve the resilience of farmers across the world.
High Conservation Value Resource Network (HCVRN)
The HCVRN is a member-based organisation that strives to protect High Conservation Values in areas where the expansion of forestry and agriculture may put important forests, biodiversity and local communities at risk. It is formed by organisations
that use and promote the HCV Approach.
We are part of its management committee that oversees the continued development of standards and workings of the organisation.
PISAgro
PISAgro aims to promote public-private partnership as a cost-effective way of delivering multiple benefits for wider society in Indonesia. PISAgro has 10 working groups that include palm oil, horticulture, and soybeans. GAR is part of the PISAgro working groups to support agricultural output.
Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA)
We are an active member of the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA), a global public-private partnership. Members take voluntary actions, individually and in combination, to reduce the tropical deforestation associated with the sourcing of commodities such as palm oil, soy, beef, and paper and pulp.
