A panel discussion during a meeting in Riau organized by Kadin to look at eco-friendly development practices in the food industry. Participants urged businesses to focus on sustainability.  (Photo courtesy of Kadin)

17/09/2013 (Jakarta Globe) -The country’s leading business lobby initiated a financing scheme for 1 million independent palm oil planters to boost productivity, according to Antara news.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) will assist independent farmers by providing funding help through cooperatives, which in turn will provide loans to farmers seeking working capital or investment to replant their palm oil plantations.

The program will be synchronized with the government’s subsidized loan programs, including the People’s Enterprise Credit (KUR), according to a report by the state-run Antara News Wire on Monday.

Franky Widjaja, Kadin’s deputy chairman for agribusiness and food, said several strategic commodities needed financing in order to reach ideal production levels.

He said an oil palm farmers’ financing scheme by the World Bank and the Indonesian government was one example.

“Innovation in finance also needs to be developed for other commodities,” he said.

Franky is also the chairman and chief executive at the agri-business and consumer food products division of the Sinar Mas Group. According to Franky, there are more than 9 million hectares of palm oil plantations in Indonesia, of which about 40 percent is owned by independent planters, who may not cooperate with companies.

Kadin also urged the food industry to adopt sustainable practices while working toward achieving environmental standards.

“An increase in production would improve farmers’ welfare, but sustainable strategy has to start with a change of the consumer food consumption paradigm and better implementation of sustainable production practice by the business sector,” Shinta W. Kamdani, deputy chairwoman for environmental, climate change and sustainable development affairs at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) said in a statement released on Sunday.

Kadin held a two-day meeting on sustainable eco-friendly development in Pekanbaru, Riau, in Sumatra.

Five cabinet ministers attended the meeting including Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa, Industry Minister MS Hidayat, Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, Agriculture Minister Suswono and Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

“The report highlighted the need for sustainable practices to be implemented as the country works towards its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by 2020.

“This is crucial so that the next generation can enjoy prosperity,” said the businesswoman, who is also chief executive of the Sintesa Group, a conglomerate with business links in the energy sector.

Shinta stated that the government must play a significant role in designing nationwide education programs to change consumption patterns if Indonesia was to keep producing food of decent quality in the long term.

“At Kadin, our job is to increase farmers’ productivity and the entire food production value chain by pushing for innovations in the national food security program,” Shinta said.