Funding Capacity Building Training Since 2017, the ALDI North and ALDI SOUTH groups have been supporting a smallholder project in Côte d'Ivoire in order to pave the way for sustainable cultivation of palm (kernel) oil. In close cooperation with our NGO partner Solidaridad, we have developed a project focussing on the protection of natural forests and environmentally friendly cultivation methods. Solidaridad offers intensive training which builds on an existing RSPO Smallholder Support Fund project in order to benefit from existing structures and increase impact.

Type of Smallholder Groups That You Would Like to Support: Independent Smallholders We supported >2,600 independent smallholders.

With the support of ALDI SOUTH and ALDI Nord, global Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Solidaridad and the RSPO Smallholder Support Fund (RSSF) worked on a project to pave the way for the sustainable cultivation of palm oil in Côte d'Ivoire. The project, which ran between 2017 and 2021, focused on improving smallholder farmers’ knowledge on Best Environmental Practices and on agriculture that respects High Conservation Values (HCV) and natural forests.

Through Farmer Field Schools (FFS), approximately 2,611 palm oil smallholders received training. Educational flip boxes, leaflets and posters in community areas helped sustain the learnings throughout the community.

In order to restore forestry in the project area, 17.532 tree seedlings were cultivated in nurseries and distributed to individual farmers, planted in schools, on the borders of sacred forests and restored Natural Reserve areas. This corresponds to approximately 250 hectares of restored forest land.

Various partners and stakeholders were involved in the project, including the Inter-professional Association of Oil-Palm Industry (AIPH). This institution has fully endorsed the project’s outcomes and is now installing tree nurseries in other palm oil-growing regions.

Despite the many challenges facing the project like the early hesitations of targeted smallholders, COVID-19 restrictions, and political tensions, 90% of the community participants, including community leaders and the youth, were satisfied with what they learnt from the project and with its positive outcomes in the area.