About the group
Number of smallholders: 69 (63 Men, 6 Women)
Total Land Area: 1445 Ha
Status: Not Certified
Group location: Hamka & Brothers Plantation, First Floor TB 10245 & 10246, Lot 71 / 72, Taman Megah Jaya, Mile 3.5 Jalan Apas, 91000, Tawau, Sabah
Country: Malaysia
On-going Facilitator: WWF Malaysia
TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY JOURNEY
In October 2015, the Sabah State Cabinet passed a policy mandating that all palm oil production in Sabah need to achieve Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Certification by 2025. Forever Sabah embarked on a process to engage and organise independent smallholders in twenty villages in the pilot districts of Telupid, Tongod, Beluran, and Kinabatangan (TTBK) to assess their readiness for the certification process. Besides promoting productivity while reducing negative environmental and social impacts in the state of Sabah, the key needs identified are Good Management Practices (GMP), training and support, as well as access to the local and international markets.
KLASS is the third cooperative facilitated by WWF-Malaysia’s Sustainable Palm Oil Team (SPOT) after the formation of Koperasi Pekebun Kecil dan Sederhana Sawit Lestari Sabah Berhad (KO-SALESA) on 17 August 2022. Both KLASS and KO-SALESA consist of 69 and 37 smallholders respectively, covering a combined total land area of roughly 1,300 hectares in the Tabin and Sandakan landscapes. Koperasi Lestari Penanam Sawit Sabah Berhad (KLASS) aims to engage and assist medium-sized growers in preparing for group certification under the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification standards. Both certification standards, among others, require oil palm plantations to preserve riparian reserves, avoid development on steep slopes and prevent encroachment on protected areas. Good agricultural practices and respecting human rights are also required towards stopping deforestation and ensuring no exploitation of people in the production of sustainable palm oil.
Group certification is a joint certification of a group of oil palm growers with the certification applying to the whole group. In order to facilitate access for small producers and offer reduced costs, a group certification model allows each individual group member to benefit from the economies of scale by being part of a larger group, as well as making certification more affordable as costs are shared.
Under WWF-Malaysia’s Sabah Landscapes Programme, SPOT aims to support 450 small and medium-sized growers in three priority landscapes namely Tawau-Kunak, Tabin and Lower Sugut, covering 45,000 hectares to produce RSPO Certified palm oil by 2025.
Based on the three pillars of Protect, Produce, Restore, the Sabah Landscapes Programme combines both conservation and sustainable development by integrating the protection of forests, wildlife and rivers, with RSPO Certified production of oil palm, and restoration of ecological corridors and riparian reserves.
“Businesses are often discouraged from pursuing certification as it is costly. The newly formed cooperative will serve as a platform to support its members’ certifications by sharing costs and applying industry best practices to achieve group certification under RSPO standards” - Hamka Kasma, Chairman of KLASS-
- Hamka Kasma, Chairman of KLASS
Target Project Impact
Total area covered by the project
1445 Ha
Number of smallholders benefitting from this project
69 Smallholders
Number/percentage of women supported by this project
8.70% women in this project
How you can support
We are currently working closely with RSPO Certified Independent Smallholders across provinces in Indonesia to provide a subset of trainings to improve their livelihoods while their certification is maintained.
More than 5,860 farmers who have implemented Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and good governance in their groups are seeking your commitment to buy their RSPO Credits through the PalmTrace platforms. Purchasing RSPO Credits supports smallholders in addressing environmental and social issues.
GROUP CONTACT
Representative Contact
Hamka bin Kasma | Head of KLASS Organization | | +6089716877
FACILITATOR GROUP CONTACT
Representative Contact
Mohd Ridzuan Shah Bin Rosly | Group Organizer +60138976520 | [email protected] | https://www.wwf.org.my/sabahlandscapes/our_work/pillars/
IMAGE GALLERY
WWF Malaysia
