CSSPO was formed in 2015 through the Higher Education Scientific Consortium Development Grant. Until 2020, CSSPO has conducted many activities in the form of research, training, and seminars. This video depicts the five-year journey of CSSPO (2015 – 2020).

Please enjoy.

5 YEARS 0F CSSPO

On July 23, 2020, CSSPO collaborated with Wageningen University & Research and held an International Webinar with the theme “Smallholders’ Inclusiveness in the Palm Oil Supply Chain.”

This webinar presented five expert speakers from various institutions, namely:

1. Bayu Krisnamurthi (SDG Network IPB)
2. Dupito Simamora (CPOPC)
3. Diana Chalil (CSSPO – USU)
4. Idsert Jelsma (Independent Consultant)
5. Maja Slingerland (Wageningen University & Research)

This webinar was attended by 364 academics, researchers, and practitioners from 26 countries, 43 universities, 33 companies, and various NGOs.

Materials from each speaker can be downloaded using the following link: resource materials

On Wednesday, January 15, 2020, CSSPO collaborated with USU’s office of international affairs and invited lecturers and students from the University of Maryland to USU. The visiting team included Prof. Tom Hilde and 15 students from master’s and doctoral programs with a background in environmental policy and development. The purpose of this visit was to discuss issues related to the environment and development, including the impact of the palm oil industry development on the economy, environment, and livelihoods of smallholders and local communities. On this occasion, the CSSPO coordinator, Dr. Diana Chalil, gave an overview of the palm oil industry in Indonesia, specifically in North Sumatra. The overview begins with a presentation and continues with a question and answer session. The participants were enthusiastic about oil palm and environmental issues, as indicated by the many participants who asked questions.

In collaboration with USU’s office of international affairs, CSSPO routinely holds public lectures for University of Tasmania students. In 2019, CSSPO conducted the activity in July.

The development of oil palm plantations aims to eliminate poverty and underdevelopment, especially in rural areas, while also paying attention to equity. In a broad sense, plantation-based agricultural development aims to improve public welfare, changing the lifestyle of the surrounding community. The success of plantation development based on oil palm agribusiness should reduce income inequality among community groups and regions.

Jambi has a total oil palm plantation area of ​​689,966 hectares, with an annual production of 1.6 million tons. Independent smallholders or those not integrated with plasma plantations make up 42 percent of the total plantation area, spread over eight out of eleven districts in Jambi. In 2017, palm oil commodities contributed Rp. 3,391,178,313 to the plantation sector.

In managing their plantations, independent smallholders still face fundamental problems such as low productivity and unstable palm oil prices. Low productivity occurs due to various factors, ranging from low-quality seeds and fertilizers, the lack of knowledge on the proper use of technology, and fundamental problems such as the difficulty in obtaining legal papers for their land. The negative stigma attached to Indonesian palm oil as a product resulting from unsustainable practices exacerbates these problems. Therefore, related parties should commit to helping independent smallholders towards sustainable oil palm plantations. Sustainable oil palm plantations should be supported by the acceleration of replanting programs, considering that the agricultural sector, specifically the plantation sub-sector, is the mainstay of Jambi’s economy; approximately 211,000 families depend on oil palm plantations. In 2018, Jambi replanted approximately 15 thousand hectares in six districts, namely Muaro Jambi, Batanghari, West Tanjung Jabung, Merangin, and Tebo. Jambi must realize the acceleration of oil palm replanting programs immediately to avoid negatively impacting its economy.

To that end, CSSPO Universitas Jambi held a National Seminar on Accelerating Smallholder Oil Palm Replanting Towards Sustainable Oil Palm Plantations which aims to:

1. Discuss the process of accelerating smallholder palm oil replanting programs toward sustainable oil palm plantations
2. Disseminate the results of literature studies and research in engineering and agricultural cultivation, environment, and socio-economics of oil palm commodities.

This National Seminar presented several experts, namely:

1. Dr. Ir. Hermanto Siregar, MSc (Chairman of PERHEPI, Professor of Institut Pertanian Bogor)
2. Dr. Almasdi Syahza, SE, MP (Professor of Universitas Riau)
3. Ir. Bayu Krisnamurthi, MSi (Chairman of the SDGs Network of IPB)

More information can be found at http://semnascsspo2019.unja.ac.id/index.php/2019/09/01/keynote-speaker/

In collaboration with Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), the Consortium Studies on Smallholder Palm Oil (CSSPO) held the 2019 CSSPO International Conference, which took place at the Pulse Grande Hotel in Putrajaya, Malaysia, from 22 to 24 October 2019. With the support of the French Embassy in Malaysia and the ISA Initiative, Universiti Putra Malaysia hosted the seminar on “Scaling Up Sustainability: Debating Landscape Approaches to Achieve Sustainable Agriculture.”

Prof. Dr. Zulkifli Idrus, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) of Universiti Putra Malaysia opened the seminar with his speech. Following this, seven experts presented their material:

1. Marcel D’Jama (CIRAD & UPM): Scaling Up Sustainability? Debating Landscape Approaches
2. Dr. John McCarthy (Australian National University): Vulnerability, Food Insecurity and Livelihood Transitions in Rural Indonesia
3. Datin Paduka Dr. Fatimah Mohamed Arshad (IKDPM): The Tale of Three Commodity Archetypes: Competing Co-Existence
4. Tey Yeong Sheng (IKDPM): Value Chain Development of the Malaysian Palm Oil Industry: Way Forward Through the Landscape Approach
5. Yu Leng Khor (International Economic Consultant Specialist): Palm Oil in Transition – Trade, Policy, Perception & Smallholders
6. Marc Acrenaz (HUTAN): Creating Resilient Agricultural Landscapes for Wildlife and People
7. Dr. Nicola K. Abram (Living Landscape Alliance): Understanding Landscape Dynamics and Complexities in Light of Jurisdictional Approaches to Sustainable Certifications

On September 23, 2019, the Faculty of Agriculture of USU collaborated with CSSPO to hold a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) on “Socio-Economic Dimensions of Palm Oil Replanting Towards Sustainable Palm Oil Business (Case Study: North Sumatra)” at Polonia Hotel Medan. The Vice Dean II of the Faculty of Agriculture of USU, Dr. Ir. Jonathan Ginting, MS, opened the FGD with his speech. This forum was attended by:

1. Representative of the Directorate General of Plantations, Ministry of Indonesia
2. Head and Staff of the Plantation Service of North Sumatra
3. Agriculture Office of North Padang Lawas
4. Agriculture Office of Deli Serdang
5. Agriculture Office of Central Tapanuli
6. PT Musim Mas
7. PT ANJ Agri Binanga
8. PT Abdi Budi Mulia
9. PTPN III (Persero)
10. PT Socfin Indonesia
11. PT PP London Sumatra Indonesia
12. Subur Makmur Village Cooperative, South Labuhanbatu
13. Guna Mandiri Smallholder Group, North Padang Lawas
14. APKASINDO
15. SAMADE
16. Mawar Smallholder Group, South Tapanuli
17. Communities’ Oil Palm Replanting Research Team, Universitas Lampung
18. Communities’ Oil Palm Replanting Research Team, Universitas Andalas

The results of this FGD were presented in a Policy Brief.

A masterpiece of National Palm Oil Innovation

Fostering Innovation for Sustainability

Funding for research and development programs for oil palm plantations from upstream to downstream is one of the efforts of BPDPKS to strengthen, develop and improve the empowerment of plantations and the national oil palm industry that synergize with each other to realize sustainable oil palm plantations.

The CSSPO research team was allowed to conduct research related to the Communities’ Oil Palm Replanting program conducted by BPDPKS. From 1 to 2 August 2019, the team presented a part of the research results at the 2019 Palm Oil Research Week at JS Luwansa Kuningan Jakarta.