Doppa-dibiz Mou Enables Smallholders To Track Daily Activities

KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 (Bernama) -- The Sarawak Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association (Doppa) has today inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with DIBIZ Global to enable 48,000 Dayak smallholders to keep track of their daily activities including tracking yield and daily market pricing for better negotiation.

DIBIZ's blockchain-powered platform enables all supply chain stakeholders to embrace sustainability while minimising costs and democratising the value of sustainability premiums, including for smallholders.

Rather than excluding smallholders from high-demand markets like the European Union with its deforestation regulations, the DIBIZ App empowers dealers and millers sourcing crops from smallholders to confidently authenticate their involvement in deforestation-free supply chains.

DIBIZ founder and chief executive officer Unnikrishnan R Unnithan said with the implementation of the DIBIZ blockchain platform, multinational corporations (MNCs) seeking to procure more Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) from smallholders can now access immutable data regarding their supply.

“This ensures transparency and reliability in the sourcing process, benefiting both the MNCs and the smallholders involved," he said in a statement today. 

DIBIZ Malaysia Sdn Bhd chairman Tan Sri Yusof Basiron said: “I believe DIBIZ free mobile app would be truly transformative in improving the livelihood of oil palm smallholders. Today's MOU with DOPPA is another concrete step towards this noble objective.”

Yusof retired as Malaysian Palm Oil Board director-general and was Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries immediate past-president.

Meanwhile, Doppa president Napolean Ningkos reiterated that the association finds the European Union  Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR) discriminates against indigenous palm oil smallholders.

Ningkos presented the fact to members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Lara Wolters and Christopher Hansen in Brussels where smallholders from Africa that cultivate cocoa and coffee also expressed their concerns on EUDR.

"Doppa understands that MEPs Wolters and Hansen have to reply to many other levels of government at the EU, which is why this MoU with DIBIZ Global was initiated.

“Doppa members can prove on the ground that their oil palm does not cause deforestation. We are appreciative of DIBIZ that we can prove this without a doubt,” he said. 

Smallholders produce almost 40 per cent of global palm oil output and their exclusion in the sustainable palm oil supply chain, due to a lack of access to smart technology, threatens to remove this vital group of stakeholders in the global supply chain.

-- BERNAMA