KUALA LUMPUR: Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has collaborated with Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation to help improve the livelihood of smallholders within the P&G palm supply chain in Malaysia.
International Plant Nutrition Institute and Yara International are also part of the newly-announced collaboration.
Between 2015 and 2018, P&G has conducted a successful pilot ran focusing on assessing the baseline capability of around 2,000 smallholder farmers in Johor.
Given its success, the programme is expanding to create 250 learning farms which will be embedded in a P&G-led innovation system.
These farms will serve as community resource centres to drive scale and diffusion of good agricultural practices for up to 10,000 smallholders within the next five years.
The goal is to improve yields by 30 to 50 per cent, improve the livelihood of the smallholder farmers and ensure sustainable practices in the P&G palm oil supply chain.
The farmers of the 250 learning farms will have direct access to agronomists and sustainability field officers and receive hands-on technical advisory support.
Together, they will work to implement best-in-class farm operations management including harvesting optimisation, nutrient plans and budget management.
In return, these smallholders will act as resource trainers and scale the effort to other farmers in their community.
P&G Chemicals vice-president, Jack Ryan said the company was proud of the work they did in Malaysia because it was the right thing to do for the local community and the global consumers who demanded for more sustainable products.
Sustainability of the system is underpinned by a common and shared vested interest of smallholders, oil palm processors and fertiliser supply chains.
The goal is to increase productivity of farms and meet the continued demand for sustainable palm oil and palm kernel oil.
Smallholders provide about 40 per cent of the world’s palm oil supply. However, many of them have limited knowledge or access to agricultural resources to help maximise their crop. — Bernama