PRESS RELEASE CPOPC INTERNATIONAL SMALLHOLDERS WORKSHOP AND FIELD VISIT 24 – 25 JULY 2023, MELAKA, MALAYSIA

The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) organized the International Smallholders Workshop and Field Visit themed “Improvement of sustainable certification achievement, enhancement of good agricultural practices, and lessons learnt on technology adoption” on 24th – 25th  July 2023 in Melaka, Malaysia. This year, the Workshop presents and discusses some important topics such as enhancing the capacity of smallholders to attain sustainability certification, good agricultural practices, especially the automation and mechanization aspect which have the potential to be adopted by smallholders, as well as discussing the current Deforestation Regulation by the European Union (EUDR).

The purpose of the workshop which gathered about 200 registrants from 15 countries – through online platform and in physical attendance focused on the achievements, opportunities and challenges of palm oil sustainability schemes, the latest technology in the large plantations that possibly can be adopted by the smallholders.  

The Secretary General of CPOPC Dr. Rizal Affandi Lukman in his opening remarks highlighted the central role of smallholders in the palm oil supply chain of upstream sector in Indonesia, Malaysia and Honduras. The three members of CPOPC, record more than 41%, 27%, and 50% of oil palm hectarage generated by the smallholders, respectively. “This workshop will be an important avenue for the participants to improve their awareness on good agriculture practice and strengthen their understanding on sustainability,” Rizal explained. 

In their keynote speeches, the Senior Officials of the respective member countries affirmed that regulations passed by the governments and actions taken by all relevant stakeholders are required to maintain sustainable practices among the smallholders.  The Secretary General, Ministry of Plantation and Commodities of Malaysia, YBhg. Dato' Mad Zaidi Bin Mohd Karli, emphasized on the role of policy makers to support smallholders in their practice and to meet sustainability requirements. To achieve this, “We realise that some smallholders are still facing challenges to be certified due to financial constraints. That is why, the Malaysian Government has taken a proactive step by allocating the MSPO incentive fund, which aims to alleviate the burden borne by our smallholders.” Dato’ Mad Zaidi stated.

"Indonesia perceives the smallholder farmers as the solution and opportunity for moving forward to more sustainable palm oil." stated Deputy Minister for Food and Agribusiness Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Musdhalifah Machmud. Mdm. Musdhalifah affirmed that the sustainability practice of smallholders can be attained by policy improvement, Good Agricultural Practices, as well as training and advocating for smallholders.

Subsecretary of Agriculture and Livestock of Honduras, Ing. Roy Lazo Rodríguez, asserted that the assistance from the government would not be adequate to fulfil all the support needed by the smallholders to improve their welfare. “Now that Honduras is a part of CPOPC, I hope that our smallholders, as well as the government, can learn from each other’s practice and policies,” stated Ing. Rodriguez. 

In the first session, the discussions centred on the achievements and challenges of smallholders in demonstrating their commitments on sustainability principles not only to obtain certification schemes but also common practices in the field. The second session focused on the future of smallholders in relation with the latest technology in agriculture and the current EUDR that potentially can further exclude the smallholders in the EU market.

The workshop also included a field visit to Sime Darby’s oil palm plantation in Ladang Merlimau and a smallholders’ plantation in Paya Dalam. The participants comprised 12 Indonesian and 12 Malaysian smallholders, and 9 representatives of government and smallholder’s association in Papua New Guinea, learnt on agricultural automation and mechanisation to increase the smallholders’ productivity.

Indonesia will host the next workshop scheduled to take place in 2024.

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