InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – Secretariat Chief if Forum Petani Kelapa Sawit Berkelanjutan Indonesia (Fortasbi), Rukaiyah Rafik said the smallholders are still difficult to get fund access in smallholders replanting program (SRP). She thought it would be the issue because there are many qualifications to get the fund and many could not do it.

As InfoSAWIT quoted from the official page of Fortasbi, Friday (22/2/2024), Rukaiyah proposed to simplify the proposal in SRP fund by focusing land ownership by smallholders. She thought the most important thing is that the smallholders have their own plantations.

Fortasbi is the forum that some non-government organizations and smallholders’ organizations in Indonesia proposed in 2014. The goal is about to escalate independent smallholders’ capacity to get sustainable certifications.

According to the information, Fortasbi now develops to have 56 forum members. It developed 14.687 smallholders within total palm oil plantations about 32.987 hectares within 1.043.417 tons fresh fruit bunch per year that got sustainable certification, or equal to 208.683 tons crude palm oil (CPO) per year.

The limited access to get SRP fund would be main issue for independent smallholders to escalate plantation productivity and sustainable business of theirs. “That is why simple process and criteria to get SRP fund would be crucial to support their welfare and progress in Indonesia,” she whose familiar name, Uki, said. (T2)