56 THE PLANTER’S CORNER
HENKEL AND BASF COLLABORATE TO MAKE INDONESIA PALM PRODUCTION MORE VIABLE Targeting the fact that 40% of the world’s palm oil is produced by
small- to medium sized farmers, BASF and Henkel have collaborated with
development organisation Solidaridad to help make this sector more efficient and sustainable in Indonesia.
T
he biggest questions facing the team on this collaboration project was how to improve things in existing farms without negatively impacting the livelihood of the farmers and also making the whole process more sustainable and eco-friendly. The quest to improve yields has invariably led to more and more
rainforests being cleared to make way for palm oil plantation, leading to potentially devastating repercussions for the environment. So one of the biggest aims is to maintain the existing footprint of those farms, while still improving yields.
ingredients, while other alternatives such as vegetable oil and coconut oil require far more farming land to reach the same type of yields as palm oil. Training Indonesian farmers
In recent years, palm oil has come under the microscope because of organisations such as Green Peace, which have fought hard to bring about public awareness of the damage that can be done to the environment through palm oil.
That is why sustainable farming methods, efficient production and high occupational health and safety standards have become some of the most important conditions for certified palm oil production. Smallholders can learn how to fulfill these requirements locally in dedicated training programs.
Palm oil is one of the main ingredients for soaps and liquid soaps, so the cosmetics and personal care industry is a big customer. But palm oil is also one of the most effective
Henkel’s work in this area began in 2015 with a 5-year-project in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan aimed at meeting all of these objectives.
ASIA PALM OIL MAGAZINE | October - December 2016
