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One goal is the training of small farmers in their use of more sustainable cultivation methods, such as the use of organic fertiliser. For this purpose, demonstration plots on plantations are to be set up for training purposes.

Another goal is the traceability of palm oil along global supply chains to the plantation, which is a major challenge and is the second core issue of the project. The aim is to promote transparency along the supply chain (from the cultivated area to the oil mill) by means of a mobile app. For this purpose,  Koltiva’s PalmoilTrace  –  FarmGate app is used by a test group of certified smallholders and traders for weighing and recording harvest quantities.

“The FONAP members are very much looking forward to continuing to work with WWF and Wild Asia. The use of digital technologies, with which we are taking a big step forward together, seems to be particularly promising. Digitalization in agriculture is an important development field,” says FONAP CEO Almut Feller.

The cooperation partner Wild Asia already has several years of experience in supporting small farmers in Malaysia and Indonesia. Wild Asia also successfully uses IT solutions such as cloud platforms and mobile apps in its work. Dr. Reza Azmi, Director of Wild Asia, explains:

“With the app, we can record transactions from certified small producers and palm oil retailers. This makes the traceability of certified palm oil complete. We will train the use to enable their application even for a growing group of producers.”

The second phase of the FONAP project builds on the experience of the first phase. The first phase of the project lasted from July 2018 to June 2019 and was implemented in the Perak/Malaysia region.

The aim of the first phase of the project was to obtain feedback on the basis on the four additional criteria of FONAP and to test their applicability and feasibility for small farmers. Additional criteria include:

– stopping cultivation on peatsoils and other areas with a high carbon content,

– stopping the use of highly dangerous pesticides,

– Application of strict reduction targets for greenhouse gases

– and ensuring that certified palm oil mills source raw material (Fresh Fruit Bunches) exclusively from legal cultivation.

“We are taking a very positive view of the first phase of the project,” says Ilka Petersen from WWF Germany. “We worked with the small farmers to see the impact of producing with less chemistry. On the pilot farms, they have even achieved higher yields.”

The Forum Sustainable Palm Oil e.V. is an association of companies, associations, non-governmental organisations and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). The association is supported by the BMEL through the specialist agency For Renewable Raw Materials (FNR). The aim of FONAP is to jointly develop viable solutions for improving practices in the palm oil sector. The current 51 members of the Sustainable Palm Oil Forum have made a commitment to use 100 percent certified palm oil. Another goal of FONAP is to improve the recognized certification systems and to increase the use of certified palm oil both nationally and internationally.

Non-timber forest products (NTFP) from responsible forest management are in increasing demand and sales opportunities for FSC-certified products such as natural rubber are encouraging. They have high potential for the diversification of forest enterprises, can provide additional income for smallholder farms in particular, and therefore often contribute significantly to rural development.

The GFA standard can be assessed here at any time on the GFA Certification website.

ASI is responsible on behalf of FSC to assess whether the certification bodies fulfill the requirements of FSC certification. The assessments are conducted in several audits during the year, including assessments of the certification bodies´ headoffice, affiliate offices and by accompanying selected audits at clients of the certification bodies. The assessments focus on the quality of the certification procedures and the audit implementation. ASI applies strict requirements to be fulfilled by the certification bodies. Non-adherence can lead to a suspension of the certification body.