{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1819789,
        "msgid": "cips-improving-independent-smallholders-productivity-could-prevent-rp70-trillion-gdp-loss-1782230359",
        "date": "2026-06-23 22:29:46",
        "title": "CIPS: Improving Independent Smallholders' Productivity Could Prevent Rp70 Trillion GDP Loss",
        "author": "",
        "source": "ANTARA_ID",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Agriculture",
        "summary": "The Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) warns that Indonesia risks losing Rp70 trillion in GDP and significant export revenue due to low productivity among independent oil palm smallholders. These farmers manage 41% of national oil palm land but currently achieve only 26.5% of their potential yield. CIPS calls for urgent policy interventions in replanting, land legality, financing, and institutional support to unlock the sector's full economic contribution.",
        "content": "<p>The Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) has assessed that\nimproving the productivity of independent oil palm smallholders is\ncrucial to preventing a potential loss of Rp70.3 trillion to the gross\ndomestic product (GDP) through strengthened replanting, legality, and\nfinancing. CIPS Chief Executive Officer Anton Rizki stated that the\nproductivity issue among independent smallholders is an urgent matter\nrequiring immediate attention. Currently, around 41% of oil palm farmers\nin Indonesia are independent or self-managed, and they still have\nsignificant room to improve their productivity. \u201cIf this is not\naddressed, our study estimates a potential loss of more than Rp70\ntrillion in terms of Indonesia\u2019s GDP revenue. So, the potential loss is\nquite substantial,\u201d Anton said in Jakarta on Tuesday. He presented the\nfindings during an Exclusive Media Luncheon Discussion titled\n\u2018Increasing the Productivity of Independent Smallholders: The Key to\nBoosting the Competitiveness of Indonesian Palm Oil\u2019, which was attended\nby several palm oil farmer associations. He further emphasised that\nfarmers still face structural obstacles. Therefore, CIPS recommends\nincreasing investment in farmers, not only in the form of funding but\nalso through policy attention and collaborative efforts to drive\nsustainable productivity improvements. At the same event, CIPS Senior\nResearcher and Policy Analyst Rahmad Supriyanto revealed that the\norganisation\u2019s latest study shows that without addressing the\nconstraints faced by independent smallholders, Indonesia risks losing an\nadditional 4.73 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) production,\nmissing out on export increases worth up to 718.5 million US dollars,\nand forfeiting an additional Rp70.3 trillion in GDP. Rahmad stressed\nthat these findings are significant, considering data from the Ministry\nof Agriculture (2026) records that independent smallholders manage\naround 41% of national oil palm land and contribute 35-40% of\nIndonesia\u2019s fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production. \u201cHowever, their current\nproductivity only reaches about 26.5% of the maximum potential that can\nbe achieved,\u201d he said. He explained that the low productivity of\nindependent smallholders reflects various obstacles they still face.\nThese issues not only impact farmers\u2019 incomes but also limit the\npotential contribution of the palm oil sector to the national economy.\n\u201cAs long as challenges such as replanting, financing, land legality, and\ninstitutional strengthening remain unresolved, Indonesia will continue\nto miss opportunities for greater economic growth in the palm oil\nsector,\u201d Rahmad stated. Behind the significant economic potential, he\nnoted, the productivity of independent smallholders is held back by\ninterconnected obstacles, making their contribution to national palm oil\nproduction growth less than optimal. The CIPS study (2026) recorded that\naround 2.4 million farmers currently manage oil palm plants that are\nover 25 years old and no longer productive. Meanwhile, the government\u2019s\nPeople\u2019s Palm Oil Replanting (PSR) programme has not yet yielded optimal\nresults. The study also found that farmers still face limitations in\ngood agricultural practices (GAP) capacity, access to superior seeds,\naffordable financing, and adequate technical assistance. Additionally,\nmost independent farmers are constrained by land legality issues, which\nhinder their access to support programmes and sustainable certification.\nCertification could serve as an instrument to encourage the adoption of\nbetter cultivation practices, strengthen farmer institutions, enhance\ncapacity, and broaden access to assistance and markets. CIPS urges\nprioritising a replanting programme with a scheme that is more\nattractive to independent smallholders, resolving land legality issues,\nand simplifying the Cultivation Registration Certificate (STDB) process.\nThis is crucial so that independent smallholders can more easily access\nvarious government support programmes, including replanting, financing,\nand sustainable certification. CIPS also believes that a jurisdictional\napproach at the regional level needs to be strengthened through\ncollaboration between local governments, the private sector, civil\nsociety organisations, and farmers to ensure that services such as\ntraining and technical assistance can reach more farmers inclusively.\n\u201cOne of the main challenges in the palm oil sector is ensuring that\nindependent smallholders have access to the crucial factors that\ndetermine their productivity,\u201d he added. He stressed that as long as\nthese obstacles remain unresolved, Indonesia will continue to lose\neconomic opportunities that could actually be achieved optimally.\nResponding to the findings, Guntur Cahyo Prabowo, Head of Smallholders\nat the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), asserted that\ncertification should not be viewed merely as a market requirement but as\npart of a broader ecosystem to strengthen the capacity, productivity,\nand long-term competitiveness of independent smallholders. He explained\nthat many independent smallholders are left behind not because they lack\ncommitment or willingness to develop. On the contrary, he said, they are\noften trapped in what is termed \u2018passive exclusion\u2019, a condition where\nsystems, policies, markets, and institutions unconsciously favour\nfarmers who are already prepared rather than helping more farmers become\nready. He noted that as global market expectations continue to evolve,\nIndonesia has the opportunity to reduce passive exclusion by helping\nmore independent smallholders become ready, not just to meet standards\nbut also to compete, while proving that future growth can be achieved\nwithout relying on land expansion.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cips-improving-independent-smallholders-productivity-could-prevent-rp70-trillion-gdp-loss-1782230359",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}