Supplier engagement is part of Bunge Loders Croklaan’s sustainability journey to transform the palm oil sector and one of the initiatives to support that commitment is our smallholder support program. Initiated in partnership with the Kerry Group, the program supports the inclusion of smallholders in the supply chain and will boost small farmers’ productivity by helping them implement sustainable agricultural practices.

Since our first collaboration in July 2018, we’ve implemented several initiatives. Read on to learn more about the most recent ones:

• IOI Corporation has formally joined the smallholder support program to contribute vital expertise from their Agronomy and Sustainability department to this project. The program has recently been renamed ‘ILHAM.’ ILHAM derives from the Malay word that means ‘Inspiration’, an abbreviation that stands for ‘Initiatif Lestari Untuk Hasil Agrikultur Mampan’ meaning ‘A Sustainability Initiative towards a Sustainable Agricultural Production’.
• On March 8, Bunge Loders Croklaan in collaboration with the Fortuna Sustainability team and representatives from Kerry and the IOI Agronomic team, conducted a foliar and soil sampling exercise at Kampung Basai, Kampung Monopod and Kampung Gusi. Smallholders were offered hands-on training on how to carry out sampling exercises, and package and label samples before they are sent to the lab for an analysis.
• On April 16, Bunge Loders Croklaan organized a classroom training in which the IOI Agronomist team helped the Fortuna Sustainability team understand the purpose of the soil sampling exercise and learn how to obtain samples in the field

Based on the ILHAM fertilizer program framework, we have now concluded the socialization visits, survey questionnaires and foliar/soil sampling exercise for the three pilot sites. Results of the sample analysis is expected early June, after which the bio-fertilizers will be formulated based on the specific types of soil found in the samples.