Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Wild Asia has today announced they have signed a new multi-year agreement with Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), to support independent small producers towards sustainable oil palm production. JDE is a subsidiary of JDE Peet’s, the world’s leading coffee and tea company, active in Asia through household coffee names including Old Town, Maxwell House and Moccona.
Through Wild Asia’s SPIRAL programme, JDE will become part of an alliance of partners who will support different approaches to promote sustainable oil palm management in the state of Sabah, East Malaysia.
JDE Peet’s goal is to work towards 100% sustainably sourced coffee, tea and palm oil by 2025 and believes that building stronger relationships between the producing regions and local palm oil buyers is critical to improving the future of the industry.
“This commitment marks the start of a partnership with Wild Asia that will enable us to scale the impacts of our Responsible Sourcing Program, ensure the sustainability of our palm sourcing and support the livelihoods of smallholder farmers that form our supply base,” says JDE’s Sustainability Director, Hoarau-Mwaura, Nadia. “As a SPIRAL partner, we can achieve these objectives through collective action. And as a buyer sourcing from Malaysia, we look forward to working with our suppliers and stakeholders to ensure a deforestation-free palm oil sector.”
SPIRAL (Small Producer Inclusivity & Resilience Alliance) is an initiative that brings together various key players in the oil palm industry to support the inclusion of small producers in the global supply chain. Palm oil produced under the SPIRAL programme is 100% traceable from farm to mill, certified sustainable and compliant with global policies like NDPE (No Deforestation, No Peat and No exploitation).
“SPIRAL allows key players from the palm oil value chain, from buyers to mills and producers, to come together and commit to goals that are mutually beneficial. This is a groundbreaking way of solving the world’s palm oil issues,” says Dr. Reza Azmi, Executive Director at Wild Asia.
This 5-year partnership aims to build local partnerships that will see up to 3,500 small producers supported through the Wild Asia Group Scheme (WAGS), improve the certification programme to manage over 100,000 hectares of land under sustainable land management, and extend other models for sustainable production such as the WAGS BIO programme.
Under the WAGS BIO programme, farmers will receive support to improve their soil biodiversity and consequently improve yields and income. Using regenerative agriculture principles, the programme introduces concepts like polyculture, agroforestry and soil conservation to the farmers and how to apply these know-hows to their farm plots.
With over 15 years’ experience in the field of sustainable oil palm production, Wild Asia recognises that partners like JDE and other palm oil value partners play a vital role in connecting the palm oil industry to smaller producers on the ground.
Wild Asia’s ultimate goal is to improve sustainable land management across Malaysia, using certification as a tool to incentivise and motivate behavioural change.
“Companies like JDE are instrumental in championing small producers’ inclusion in the global palm oil supply chain. SPIRAL partners will help us reimagine oil palm. We want to show that being sustainable can be more profitable for the farmers and be more biodiverse. This in turn, will be better for the environment,” Reza sums up.
For more information about the work that we do and for media enquiries, contact:
Sharyn Shufiyan,
Partnerships Manager, Wild Asia
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