Ksapa has been supporting automotive industry leader Michelin and others to champion the sustainable extraction of natural rubber and improve farmers livelihoods. The commitment of these companies to transparency and better working conditions in the extraction of raw materials is demonstrated by the CASCADE (Committed Actions for Smallholders Capacity Development) project implemented in Sumatra since 2020, a pivotal step in enhancing Rubber Smallholder Farmers Livelihoods. This project is the first to onboard the entirety of the supply chain: smallholder farmers and partners, a natural rubber processing company, a tire manufacturer, and a carmaker.
In this program, Ksapa is responsible for the design and deployment of capacity-building efforts using its SUTTI solution to support Sumatran rubber out growers. Capacity-building is structured around three pillars: rubber productivity, diversification, and social and human rights awareness. Ksapa and its Local Partner SETARA Jambi started training farmers on rubber cultivation in 2021 to improve farmers’ livelihoods and, ultimately, Rubber Smallholder Farmers Livelihoods.
In this post, Ksapa comes back on the results of several qualitative impact assessment surveys conducted among farmers several months after receiving training on rubber cultivation practices, highlighting the ongoing efforts to support Rubber Smallholder Farmers Livelihoods.
CASCADE Project: Championing the sustainable extraction of natural rubber to improve livelihoods
Indonesia is one of the world’s most important rubber production regions. Industrial partners identified sustainability risks within the supply chain in rubber extraction using RubberWay, an app specially developed for this purpose by Michelin and by conducting discussions with market participants. Through this risk assessment, the priority area of Jambi in Sumatra was identified as the starting point to enhance Rubber Smallholder Farmers Livelihoods.
For manufacturers such as Michelin, rubber is a key commodity as it is used in many different parts of their products. In that sense, Michelin and its partners have committed to supporting Sumatran small plantation farmers in the extraction of rubber working with Ksapa. As such, the scheme aims to train 6,500 smallholders to make extraction methods more environmentally compatible and efficient. Today, more than 3,000 rubber out growers have been enrolled in the program.
As described in a previous post, Ksapa is using its SUTTI solution to calibrate and deploy CASCADE. SUTTI is a large-scale impact program that leans on a hybrid capacity-building model. Additionally, Ksapa’s in-house SUTTI digital suite maximizes access to training via an e-learning tool and tracks program impact against social, environmental, and economic performance targets. This ultimately helps industrial groups better understand their procurement map and gives smallholders control over their farm.
CASCADE Impact: Farmer-Centric Learnings for Quick Wins
FARMER-CENTRIC METHODOLOGY FOR GREATER SATISFACTION
At its core, SUTTI is designed to empower small-scale producers to achieve greater resilience by delivering vocational training on priority topics ranging from agricultural skills to health and safety, biodiversity, etc. Training delivered is based on a thorough understanding of smallholders’ core needs, which is essential for enhancing Rubber Smallholder Farmers Livelihoods. This 360-degree farmer-centric diagnosis and analysis is fundamental to the sound implementation of SUTTI projects.
Indeed, through the diagnosis phase, Ksapa identified and classified interventions as quick wins or mid-long-term interventions. Quick wins are actions that do not require significant time or investment to be implemented by farmers and which provide benefit in a short period of time. It is key to start the capacity-building process with quick wins, building trust with farmers and then engaging more complex strategies.
The first training provided by Ksapa and its Local Partner SETARA Jambi is thus based on rubber cultivation practices quick wins. The result shown by the surveys – conducted among 50% of the farmers (1,500 out of 3,000) who had received training at least 6 months prior – is that 89% of them are satisfied or very satisfied with the training. This result must also be considered in comparison with traditional training programs, which usually have a satisfaction rate of 50 to 60% maximum.
UNIQUE TRAINING METHODOLOGY COMBINING FACE TO FACE & DIGITAL APPROACH
Ksapa’s training approach was also well received by farmers in the survey. Indeed, the combination of tailored training content & adequate pedagogy with e-learning capacities has proven impactful for practices adoption among farmers. By working jointly with local partners and Michelin, Ksapa was able to curate easy to understand and relevant content for farmers. Providing training in a hybrid format, using face-to-face and digital means, also allowed farmers to continuously delve into practices for maximum adoption.
While most rubber farmers are ageing and for most are not digital-native, continuous support from Ksapa and SETARA Jambi helped farmers understand the value of the SUTTI App in their training journey. Building upon a low-tech infrastructure (working offline, web-page instead of an application, text-to-speech features…), the SUTTI App became central to CASCADE training methodology. As a result, farmers spend an average of 1.5 hours per week on the app to learn new practices, review content and share data.
Moreover, the relevancy of the learnings provided helped farmers tackle challenges that had been left unresolved. As such, the practices disseminated had a great impact on farmers who quickly understood the value of such trainings. As a result, most quick wins practices have been adopted by farmers, further enhancing Rubber Smallholder Farmers Livelihoods.
CONCRETE IMPACTS IMPROVING FARMERS’ LIVELIHOODS
Farmers applying those practices had the opportunity to witness by themselves positive impacts induced after a few months. While this training was focusing on rubber cultivation and productivity, we observed that farmers reported multiple impacts across different dimensions: economic, agronomic, health… These qualitative impact studies thus further prove the interest of such quick wins for farmers.
In particular, more than 50% of farmers reported an increase in yield, quality & revenues. In a specific question, farmers reported witnessing a yield increase of 20.9% on average across surveys. Such quick win is key as it is the first step in improving rubber smallholder farmers livelihoods. Combined impact, such as increased yields with reduced usage of intrants, further improve the profitability of their farms.
Conclusion
Automotive industry leaders have entrusted their sustainability efforts to Ksapa and its SUTTI solution. As a key raw material in many products, the ESG performance of natural rubber supply chains must be improved. In particular, when looking at certain production areas such as Jambi in Sumatra, farmers face many challenges ranging from social and economic to agronomic.
The results provided so far by qualitative impact surveys clearly proved the case for Ksapa’s training methodologies and farmer-centric approach. Building upon these impacts, Ksapa and its partners have scaled-up the program to go from 1,000 to 6,500 farmers to deliver value and impact on a broader scale, further benefiting Rubber Smallholder Farmers Livelihoods.
Adrien is a SUTTI Program Officer. He’s responsible for the development, operational implementation, and monitoring of SUTTI programs. He participates in designing financial structuring schemes leveraging SUTTI’s impacts.
He has previous experiences in various industries, within public, private, and non-profit organizations. Before joining, he was involved in microfinance and social entrepreneurship initiatives in Cambodia and the Philippines, after working for Danone and RATP.
He holds a Master’s in Finance from Paris-Dauphine University, as well as a Master in Management from ESSEC Business School.
He speaks French, English, and Spanish.
