FACT Dialogue Team Visited SPOS Indonesia Program Sites in Central Kalimantan Province

On 23-24 July 2022, The FACT (Forest, Agriculture Commodities and Trade) Dialogue Team from the UK and The FACT Indonesia Secretariat visited several work sites of the SPOS Indonesia Program in Central Kalimantan. The purpose of the visit from the FACT Team is to take the lessons learned in encouraging good practices in natural resources management in Indonesia, including sustainable palm oil management, sustainable forestry governance, and other good practices, so that the acceptance of Indonesian commodities abroad will increase.

The Director of the SPOS Indonesia Program, Irfan Bakhtiar explained that SPOS Indonesia since 2019 has been supporting the Indonesian Government, particularly in Central Kalimantan which activities include capacity building for smallholders on sustainable palm oil practices, data collecting and mapping for smallholders, implementing the concept of Strategy Jangka Benah (SJB), and facilitating the preparation of smallholder’s palm oil certification (ISPO and RSPO), and some other activities.

The Fact Dialogue Team visited the KUD Tri Daya (Village Unit Cooperative) in Karang Tunggal Village, Parenggean Sub-district, East Kotawaringin District, Central Kalimantan Province. KUD Tri daya is a cooperative that is in process of obtaining smallholder palm oil certifications and implementing sustainable palm oil practices for smallholders with support from the SPOS Indonesia Program and its partner; JAVLEC Indonesia Foundation. Through this visit, the FACT Dialogue Team was given the opportunity to have a direct discussion with the smallholders about how smallholders prepare for the certifications, the challenges faced, and what is needed to move forward to achieve the goals.

The trip then continued to the Jangka Benah Demonstration Plot to see how the concept of Jangka Benah as an initiative for the resolution of palm oil in forest areas is implemented. The Jangka Benah Policy, which is included in the Indonesian Government Regulation under Job Creation Law, is an effort by the Government, especially the Ministry of Environment and Forestry as a solution to the problem of palm oil in forest areas. The FACT team is very appreciative of the Jangka Benah concept and looks forward to its development in the future.