BPDPKS Encourages Oil Palm Farmers to Add Value to Products
JAKARTA—The Indonesia Oil Palm Plantations Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) encouraged oil palm smallholders to add more value to their product by establishing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in an effort to improve their standard of living.
"BPDPKS encourages farmers to join a farmers group or cooperative in which they establish SMEs. BPDPKS has continuously been working in this domain by developing several programs of training and capacity building,” Caretaker of BPDPKS Director of Partnership Muhammad Ferian said.
Ferian’s statement came up during a webinar hosted by Sawit Indonesia Magazine in collaboration with BPDPKS in Jakarta, Friday (7/8/2020). It was an online seminar held ahead of the 75th Independence Day and National SMEs Day celebration.
Ferian said farmers must develop entrepreneurial skills in a bid to establishing SMEs. They can join training programs organized by BPDPKS that provide a better understanding of the concept and practice of entrepreneurship.
“Training programs are organized based on their interests. We often receive unsuitable training proposals. They proposed a training for briquettes production while they were ideally suited for utilization of oil palm biomass fibers. We don’t want it to happen again.”
Ferian explained that a research carried out by farmers, BPDPKS and Gadjah Mada University has shown that establishing SMEs is the effective way to improve farmers’ standard of living. “Farmers can add value to their products so that they can achieve and sustain a decent standard of living.”
Currently, BPDPKS has succesfully developed several SMEs in palm oil sector. For examples liquid soap and hand sanitizer production, healty food production from red palm oil, fuel production from palm oil biomass, and intercropping oil palm with food crops in a bid to meet local food demand.
BPDPKS has also been developing new renewable energy from palm oil in an effort to improve national energy security. “We encourage farmers to integrate palm oil into biohydrocarbon production. This is BPDPKS’ commitment to support use of new renewable energy,” Ferian said. **