On 10 February 2015, Asian Agri publicly declared its continuing commitment to develop Indonesian smallholders, including those farmers who are independent smallholders. Since 2011, the company has embarked on the independent smallholder development program by assisting to build the smallholder farmers’ capacity through education.
This is in line with the “3C” principles embraced by Sukanto Tanoto, the founder and Chairman of RGE Group, of which Asian Agri belongs to. The “3C” principles refer to the ways that a company operates that is good for the Community, good for the Country and good for the Company. Asian Agri recognizes that the smallholders are their business partners and at the press conference themed “Asian Agri Committed to Developing Smallholders”, publicly renewed its commitment to them.
Asian Agri’s General Manager Freddy Widjaya affirmed that the independent smallholder program seeks to educate these independent smallholders on the sustainable and best agricultural practices, which will increase their productivity and income, and in turn improve their quality of lives. Doing this improves the welfare and livelihood of the surrounding communities, thus lifting the families out of poverty. This will also give a boost to the region’s economic growth and in turn improve the economic competitiveness of the country from an overall perspective.
Currently, Asian Agri partners with 29,000 smallholder families in Indonesia’s Riau and Jambi provinces under the plasma scheme, who operate 60,000 hectares of oil palm estates. Through the partnership with the company, the living conditions of these plasma families have notably improved, which has made better housing and educational opportunities for themselves and their children a reality. The company intends to work with 60,000 independent smallholders by the year 2020.
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