InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – The certification process under the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) scheme remains a major challenge for smallholder oil palm farmers, due to high costs, limited assistance, and land legality issues.

Speaking at the ISPO Update Focus Group Discussion attended by InfoSAWIT on Monday (22/12/2025), Fortasbi Communications Manager Alwan Ridha Ramdani said all Fortasbi members are fully certified under ISPO and RSPO, while farmers still in the audit process receive mentoring but are not yet formal members.

“The journey toward certification is long and expensive, from forming farmer groups to audits and training,” Alwan said.

In 2025, Fortasbi targeted the certification of 3,000 additional farmers, but progress has been hindered by unresolved land legality issues, especially where plantations overlap with forest areas.

Alwan stressed the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration, simplified procedures, and optimized funding support to ensure ISPO certification becomes accessible to smallholders. (T2)