Jakarta – Amanah, an independent smallholder association in Ukui, Riau, has become the first such group to receive Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification. The certificate was presented by Ir. Bambang, MM, Director General of Plantations, Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture to Sunarno, Head of Amanah, at the International Conference on Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil in Jakarta.
Amanah is an association of 500 independent smallholders, and earned certification as part of a joint program between the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Asian Agri.
Smallholders benefited from three months of training, after which they were independently assessed on their compliance with the principles of ISPO.
Sunarno expressed his happiness at the association’s accomplishment, and hopes that the ISPO certification will inspire other smallholders to do the same as the implementation of sustainable plantation practices brings benefits both to farmers and to the environment.
Freddy Widjaya, Director of Asian Agri, said: “This partnership between smallholders and companies should encourage a commitment to sustainability in the palm oil industry. By earning ISPO certification, the application of best plantation practices will become a standard for smallholders and companies, supporting the government in realizing a sustainable and competitive palm oil industry.”
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About Asian Agri:
Asian Agri is one of the leading private companies in Indonesia producing crude palm oil (CPO) since 1979 and employs around 25,000 people today. Since 1987, Asian Agri has been a pioneer of the Indonesian government’s Trans-National Government Migration (PIR-Trans) program. Today, the company manages 100,000 Ha of land and partners 30,000 smallholder families in Riau and Jambi who operate 60,000 Ha of palm oil plantation.
Asian Agri’s success in becoming one of the leading CPO companies has been acknowledged internationally with the ISO 14001 certification for all of its operations. Its Learning Institute in Pelalawan, Riau, as well as its nursery research center in Kampar, Riau are ISO 9001 certified. In addition, Asian Agri’s R&D Center in Tebing Tinggi has also obtained certification by the International Plant-Analytical Exchange at the WEPAL lab at Wageningen University in The Netherlands, for its high standards.
More than 86% of both owned plantations in North Sumatra, Riau & Jambi provinces & scheme smallholder plantations in Riau & Jambi provinces have been RSPO certified.
All plantations have also been ISCC-certified (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification), including plantation owned by smallholders. Palm oil mills and plantation in Buatan, Ukui, Soga, Tungkul Ulu, and Muara Bulian have been ISPO (Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil) certified.
For further information, please contact:
| Elly Mahesa Jenar |
| Corporate Communications Manager |
| E-mail: Elly_Mahesa@www.asianagri.com |
| DID: +62 230 1119 |
| HP: +62 811 8776 729 |
