SAFE Indonesia

Context

Millions of Indonesians rely on agriculture as their main livelihood, yet agriculture remains a significant contributor to deforestation in the country. Indonesia is committed to a green economy and forest conservation, as outlined in the National Mid-Term Development Plan 2020-2024 and associated legal frameworks. To facilitate this further, the Government of Indonesia is in the process of establishing tools to aid in monitoring sustainability progress in the plantation sector at jurisdictional level. The European Union is committed to supporting partner countries in an inclusive transition to deforestation-free and legal agricultural production in line with national and international regulations. Implementing these policies is challenging, particularly for smallholder farmers who face barriers to adopting sustainable practices. Despite the obstacles, complying with deforestation-related trade requirements offers opportunities for improved and more formalised trading conditions, incentivising sustainability and supporting smallholders’ livelihoods.

Approach in Indonesia

In Indonesia, SAFE is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS). SAFE works closely with public and private stakeholders in identifying, testing and scaling innovative solutions that strengthen smallholders’ capacities in compliance with international regulations and their inclusion in international value chains.
The project is organising the “SAFE Challenge”. Stakeholders from the palm oil, natural rubber, and cocoa sectors with links to the European market are invited to submit ideas for ensuring an inclusive transition of smallholders’ practices to sustainable, legal and deforestation-free production. SAFE selects the best ideas and, together with the idea submitters, develops relevant and scalable interventions in West Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi. Throughout implementation, best practices and lessons learned are shared and fed into guidelines, regulations and policy frameworks at national, regional, and global levels.
Additionally, co-investments from the private sector and other means of green finance will be leveraged. SAFE is committed to ensuring that identified interventions will be tailored to address gender gaps in sustainable value chains.

Activities

SAFE Indonesia aims to work very closely with regional and global actors to find solutions with the people most affected. The SAFE Challenge, an idea competition, is a way to reach this aim. Through this approach, SAFE is opening up the opportunity for stakeholders to co-create interventions with women and men in the communities, ensuring a relevant design while providing direct market linkage to promote the sustainability of the intervention.
Specific activities will be determined once the SAFE Challenge finalists are selected.