Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food expands its fire prevention programme to improve community welfare

KETAPANG, Indonesia, Feb. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food's Desa Makmur Peduli Api (DMPA) programme completed another successful year with reduced fires and hotspots in the 17 villages where the programme is running in West Kalimantan and Jambi. In 2017, the total number of hotspots and firespots of DMPA villages decreased to 13 hotspots and 9 firespots from 25 hotspots and 7 firespots in 2016; and 423 hotspots and 271 firespots in 2015.  

In 2017, the programme was expanded in West Kalimantan, to pilot community development programmes focused on developing organic agriculture plots that enable villagers to grow more of their own food, and provide an additional source of income by selling excess produce to local markets.

The CEO of Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food for West Kalimantan plantation area Susanto Yang said: "Following the success of our original DMPA programme in 2016 we are pleased to report that communities in Ketapang have remained vigilant and been successful in minimising fires in 2017."

"In addition to the focus on fire prevention, we looked at the wider needs of the communities from targeted villages. We developed the Integrated Ecological Farming to help educate villagers on more sustainable, organic farming methods that can help them meet their own nutrition needs, ensuring food security and supporting economic development. So far there have been three pilot villages for the programme with more than 60 farmer members joining our initiative, of whom 70% are women in West Kalimantan. We hope that with this mentorship our farmer members can replicate the process in their own garden plots," Susanto explained. 

Both the members and their families have enjoyed the benefits of this programme. Each family is able to save up to IDR 300,000 per month from cutting down vegetable and spices spending that they can now take from their own garden. In addition, they receive IDR 500,000 on a monthly basis from selling the vegetables to the surrounding villages, after they use it for their own household.

In Ketapang, West Kalimantan, where eight of the 17 participating villages are located, infrastructure investments of IDR 600 million are being awarded in recognition of the villages' efforts in keeping fires at bay in 2017. Those villages are Tajok Kayong, Nanga Tayap, Lembah Hijau 1, Lembah Hijau 2, Siantau Raya, Sungai Kelik, Simpang Tiga Sembelangaan and Tanjung Medan which are located in Nanga Tayap Subdistrict.

About Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food

Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food operates under Golden-Agri Resources (GAR) is one of the leading palm oil plantation companies with a planted area of more than 480,000 hectares (including smallholders) as of June 30, 2017. The company has an integrated operation producing food made from raw vegetable oils.

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