Asian Agri is targeting for more independent smallholders to be involved in its One to One Commitment Smallholder program in 2018, reported Waspada.
The One to One Commitment aims to see the company match each hectare of its own land with one hectare of land owned by smallholders by the end of 2018.
“Currently, Asian Agri manages 100,000ha of core plantations spread across three provinces, namely North Sumatra, Riau and Jambi, and is partners with plasma smallholders who own a total plantation area of 60,000ha.
“To even it out, Asian Agri is seeking partnerships with independent smallholders to cover an additional area of 40,000ha, so the One to One Commitment can be fulfilled with 100,000ha of Asian Agri core plantation and 100,000ha of smallholders’ plantation,” said Rafmen, Asian Agri Deputy Head of Partnership.
As of November 2017, about 28,000ha of independent smallholders’ plantation have become part of the One to One partnership program, according to Rafmen.
The target for the end of 2017 is to increase this to 31,000ha, which means that Asian Agri will only need an additional 9,000ha in 2018 to fully realize its One to One Commitment.
“We are optimistic that our One to One Commitment target will be achieved in 2018,” Rafmen said.
