23 October 2023
The Centre for Sustainable Small-owners (CSS) delivered training on establishing sustainable practices for the oil palm production eco-system under Pengurusan Pertubuhan Peladang (Farmer Association) Parit Raja, Johor.
This training focused on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Oil Extraction Rate (OER) enhancement.
Led by the Unit Head of the farmer association for Parit Tengah (PPKPT) a total of 74 independent smallholders consisting of 28 existing members and 46 new members from the Smallholder Association of Parit Raja joined the training. This included 42 male and 32 female farmers.
This training was possible with help from the CSS Ambassador farmers who continue to represent CSS and showcase our program across villages and small farmers communities.
13 September 2023
The CSS Project Site was visited by FGV Sustainability Unit, led by Nurul Hasanah Ahamed, FGV Head for Group Sustainability Division
“I witnessed the program’s success firsthand. We were aware of it since small holders had shared their experience with us a few years back.Thank you so much for the trip and we hope to benefit from your excellent work.” Nurul concluded at the visit.
FGV owns 67 mills across Malaysia, processing over 14 million MT of Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) annually, where two-thirds of the FFB are sourced from FELDA settlers and independent smallholders. CSS is looking for ways to help the independent smallholders supplying to FGV Mills. P&G ESG Sustainability Directors, Francis Weiderkehr based at Geneva and Girish Deshpande from P&G UK, Senior Director Eugene Han and Dr. Kuan-Chun Lee, Principal Scientist from P&G Singapore also joined the site visit. They attended the training session conducted by CSS at the invitation of YB Puan Nur Rashidah Haji Ramli, Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Kawasan Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor.
16 August 2023
The P&G Center for Sustainable Small-owners (CSS) team met the Johor State Executive Council (EXCO) for the Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, and Rural Development.
The EXCO office shared with us that they had collected feedback on CSS’s ongoing work and were pleased that it was positive and inspiring.
The meeting concluded that with the support of the State EXCO and existing CSS partners like CSS Smallholder Association PERTANIAGA, UTHM, and other relevant agencies from the state, CSS should expand its effort and outreach to other districts in Johor, and two new districts were suggested.
The State office also posted this update on their Facebook page at: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0SHEuS4v2
The CSS delegation was led by Dr. Asad Ata, with CSS managers leading various CSS initiatives. Dr. Siti Najaa, from ASB’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC), participated in this meeting. She presented the scope of IEC and shared the potential for a collaborative digitalization of the plantation project with CSS. This initiative would involve leveraging technologies like IoT and precision agriculture through an Innovation Challenge, engaging ASB students, alumni, and beyond.
5 - 6 February 2024
33 smallholder farmers from the Parit Raja Farmers Association (PPK) of Batu Pahat, Johor, recently completed a two-day study tour of the Tun Razak Agriculture Research Center in Tekam, Jerantut, Pahang.
During the visit, PPK Parit Raja’s board of directors were warmly welcomed by their counterparts at PPK Termerloh, where both parties were very excited on this exchange of knowledge and learning opportunity.
The highlight of the visit was the farmers were offered to send sample fertilizers to the center for testing to determine the quality of the fertilizer’s contents and reduce the risk of using fake fertilizers.
This visit was conducted by the Center for Sustainable Small-owners, at the Asia School of Business by the Traceability and Verification team. It is hoped that the sharing of knowledge gained from the visit will give valuable insights and takeaways towards greater livelihood improvements for farmers in Parit Raja.
17 February 2024
CSS Independent Smallholder Association, PERTANIAGA, conducts 3rd AGM, receives USD31,320 for RSPO Premiums from P&G
Pertubuhan Tani Niaga Lestari Negeri Johor, (PERTANIAGA), held its third Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Iskandar Puteri, Johor on Saturday, 17 February 2024. Attendees included 207 members, PERTANIAGA’s Board Members, Procter & Gamble (P&G) representatives Ng Jin Yong and Kuan-Chun Lee, and the ASB-CSS Team. PERTANIAGA notably was the First Independent Smallholders (ISH) Association to be certified with the RSPO Independent Smallholders Standard (RSPO-RISS) 2019 in Malaysia.
At the event, P&G handed over a cheque of RM145,046.06 to the PERTANIAGA Chairman, representing purchase of RSPO Premiums for PERTANIAGA’s Independent Smallholder Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (IS-CSPO) and Independent Smallholder Certified Sustainable Palm Kernel Oil (IS-CSPKO) for the period September 2022-August 2023, with a total value of USD 31,320.00. CSS has been continuously increasing the number of certified farms from 107 in 2022 to 407 as of today. For 2024, CSS estimates PERTANIAGA to receive another USD 40,000/- in premium through sale of IS-CSPKO and IS-CSPO making it a cumulative of circa USD 85,000/- over a period of four years, which is disbursed 100% to the farmers.
2 - 3 April 2024
CSS Strategic Working Wessions P&G for ESG and Sustainability 2024
2 April – 3 April: CSS had strategic working sessions with Eugene Han, Senior Director at P&G for ESG and Sustainability and Ng Jin Yong, Palm ESG Sustainability Manager over the last two days at ASB.
Eugene expressed P&G’s appreciation with the current progress of the program with a mandate from P&G to expand the program to other states of Malaysia going
forward. Notably, Eugene shared that P&G Senior Vice President Eric Roberts in his P&G townhall announced that “The CSS driven Smallholder Program is P&G’s best CSR/ESG program globally.”
15 March 2024
CSS Waste Management Program Studies.
The Center for Sustainable Small-owners (CSS), through the Certification and Compliance initiative team in collaboration with UITM Jasin, Melaka, had conducted a preliminary study on the waste management program, involving two communities from two collection centers under the P&G Smallholder Program, which were Perniagaan Bingan Jaya and Sudiana Enterprise.
This program aims to identify and quantify the most impactful types of waste and volumes produced by both communities and to gauge understanding about waste management practices among the smallholders of the communities.
The session is part of the environmental aspect of the CSS’s curriculum under the Waste Management topic, to adhere to the principles and criteria of the RSPO ISH
Standard certification requirement.
The session that was jointly managed by the CSS and UITM teams started at 08.30 am and ended at 12.00 pm, attended by 38 participants (27 males and 11 females), both from Sudiana Enterprise and Perniagaan Bingan Jaya.
Stay tuned for the upcoming update on the waste management program.
5 March 2024
Johor Plantations Agrotech Center (JPAC) Visit.
Twenty four members of the CSS team participated in a visit to the Johor Plantations Agrotech Center (JPAC) to attend the Agronomy Research Trainer Training Program. The primary objective of this training was to gain insights into the current oil palm industry standards.
The day commenced with an on-site exploration of the replanting area, focusing on land preparation techniques such as pulverization and harrowing to manage rhinoceros beetle and Ganoderma.
Subsequently, the team toured the Agrotech Center, delving into topics like Agronomy, GIS, and drone technology. The itinerary continued with a visit to the Agronomy laboratory for sample testing, concluding with an exploration of oil palm plant breeding and tissue culture. We’re happy to share that the sessions saw active participation and questioning from the participants.
7 March 2024
P&G Senior Leadership visits Center for Sustainable Small-owners (CSS) at Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia.
Center for Sustainable Small-owners (CSS), hosted a Senior P&G Leadership team visiting from P&G Headquarters in Cincinnati, USA. The team included Jim Hodges (Vice President, P&G Cincinnati), Azean Mohammad (Senior Director – Sales, Market Strategy & Planning, P&G Chemicals), Ayers Hong (Senior Manager, Palm Sustainability & Corporate Governance) and Ng Jin Yong (Palm ESG Sustainability Manager).
The team visited two smallholder farms and an oil-palm collection centre, getting a chance to observe first-hand how farmers were putting into practise what they learnt from the program. Re-enforcing ASB’s pedagogy of learning by doing, there was also a demonstration on oil palm harvesting and peat soil sampling, that Jim and Azean enthusiastically tried their hands at. In addition, the P&G leadership had an engaging dialogue session with the farmers, gaining insights into their experience on the program and how it has had such a positive impact on the farmer community.
“It’s my hope this program expands. The future is bright for oil palm to be sustainable and to increase the livelihood of the locals. To all the members of the program, thank you for your commitment, and everything you do, every day, to make this program a success, to make it grow and to make it valuable for the next generation,” said Jim Hodges before ending the memorable trip