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Companies cofinance sustainable agriculture to keep forests green
The Sustainable Trade Initiative Indonesia Foundation (Yayasan IDH) has been working with companies, including French tire manufacturer Michelin and agribusiness company Wilmar, to train producers of rubber and palm oil, among other commodities, to adopt good agricultural practices
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A coffee farmer harvests Arabica coffee beans on his plantation on Thursday. Sukiman started cultivating coffee in Deles village, Klaten regency, Central Java, in 2014. (JP/Magnus Hendratmo)
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usinesses are working hand-in-hand with local farmers in capacity-building programs to promote good agricultural practices in a bid to ensure sustainability in the production of various commodities ranging from palm oil and coffee to cacao and spices.
The Sustainable Trade Initiative Indonesia Foundation (Yayasan IDH) has been working with companies, including French tire manufacturer Michelin and agribusiness company Wilmar, to train producers of rubber and palm oil, among other commodities, to adopt good agricultural practices.
The cofinancing projects are not only useful for the farmers, who are mostly smallholders, but also provide benefits for the companies, said the foundation’s Indonesia chairman, Fitrian Ardiansyah.
“They [the projects] can increase farmers’ productivity, which will support [the companies’] supply chain. The cooperation with farmers will also increase their mutual trust and simultaneously reduce the risk of social conflict,” he wrote in an email correspondence with The Jakarta Post on Nov. 22.
In bridging the gap between the corporate and farmers’ needs, Yayasan IDH offers practical solutions that will allow companies, the government and other parties in public-private partnerships to finance and create sustainable agricultural projects.
Sustainability issues have recently been one of the obstacles faced by Indonesian agricultural exports. Advanced countries, such as in the European Union, where consumers are aware of how their products are sourced, cite sustainability as a requirement for imported products or commodities.
Read also: For Indonesian enterprises, green is the new black
