Solidaridad collaborates with Henkel and BASF to improve the livelihoods of palm oil smallholders in West Kalimantan. The project is implemented by Solidaridad in cooperation with partner Credit Union Keling Kumang (CUKK), Indonesia’s second largest credit union. The project partners aim to establish sustainable supply chains for palm and palm kernel oil that both effectively improve smallholder farmers’ living conditions and are eligible for certification according to the RSPO Principles & Criteria.

The project implements a Farmer Field School where oil palm smallholders are trained on good agricultural practices as well as farm management according to sustainable social and environmental standards. To date, 1,000 smallholders have graduated from the Farmer Field School. In addition, the project provides education in financial literacy so that farmers learn about responsible savings, spending, lending and investment. To date, 5,500 people (44% women) have graduated from the Financial Literacy course.

The project aims to improve the living conditions of the people in the farming areas by improving agricultural practices, increasing yields and helping preserve forests.

• Looking for Project Partners

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  Funding

  Seeking Additional Funding and used for

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  RSPO Credits

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  Selling Certified Volume as RSPO Credit?

  No

  Interested to be Contacted by Potential Buyer?

  No

• Smallholder Story / Quote

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  Lessons Learnt

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  1. Need to ensure at all stages of project planning & implementation that the FFS is female farmer friendly.
  
  Women proved to be better disseminators of information (due to their strong social networks). Having women-initiated FFS classes can be a highly effective way of improving the spread of information.

  Recommendation: use existing women’s groups as a vehicle for female-led FFS classes.
  
   
  
  2. K77 (agricultural cooperative) is extremely important for farmers as a source of inputs in remote areas.
  
  A key lesson is that herbicides and fertilizer at affordable prices near farms are critical to ensuring yield increases.

  Recommendation: continue to strengthen K77 though on-going financial management training

  Relevant Tools used for Project Implementation

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  Other Information as Deemed Relevant by the Organisation

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• Project Details

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  Name of The Smallholder Group Supported

  Solidaridad

  Type of Smallholders Supported by This Project

  Country & Location of Implementation

  Indonesia West Kalimantan

  Project Period

  April 2012 - December 2019

  Status of The Project

  Completed Project

  Project Certification Status

  Not Certified

  Co-funded by RSSF

  Yes

  Average Smallholder Yield (in FFB/ha/year)

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  At Project Start: 15 ton FFB/ha/year (baseline Dec. 2015)
  
  At Project End: 15 ton FFB/ha/year

  Current Partner Organisations

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  Implementing partner:

  Keling Kumang Group / Credit Union Keling Kumang

  Sintang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

  http://kelingkumanggroup.co.id/

  Contact: Yohanez RJ, yohanezrj@gmail.com

   

  Funding & Monitoring partner:

  Henkel AG & Co KGaA

  Henkelstraβe 67, Duesseldorf, Germany

  http://www.henkel.com/

  Contact: Christine Schneider, christine.schneider@henkel.com

   

  Funding & Monitoring partner:

  BASF Personal Care & Nutrition GmbH

  Rheinpromenade 1, Monheim am Rheim, Germany

  http://www.basf.com

  Contact: Rita Koester, rita.koester@basf.com