In line with our efforts to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable palm oil consumption, RSPO collaborated with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Indonesia, PT Lion Super Indo, and the Interchurch Organization for Development Organization (ICCO) to organise a series of activities to educate Indonesian youth about sustainable palm oil and their role in transforming markets and increasing Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) uptake in the country.
One of the activities organised recently was the #tiktokchallenge #generasisawitbaik competition, a creative campaign that involved youth between 17 and 25 years of age. The competition, which was also held to support WWF Indonesia’s #beliyangbaik campaign, requires participants to post creative videos that highlight several call-to-action messages - 1) recognise palm oil in our daily life; 2) choose sustainable palm oil products with the RSPO ecolabel; 3) recognise sustainable palm oil practices; and 4) the role of youth in supporting the sustainable palm oil industry.
A total of 21 videos were submitted, which recorded over 15,000 views and 5,000 likes on Instagram. The winners were announced on 14 October 2020. Three participants - Agape Lumbantobing, Muh. Isyraf Munthashir Idris, and Jehannisa Yulian - were selected as winners in the ‘Best Video’ category, while two participants, Sayidatun Napisah and Khasmaroeddin, won in the ‘Most Favourite Video’ category, based on the number of likes received.
They each won a field trip to an oil palm plantation and an orangutan conservation area with the media and an Indonesian social media influencer, to get first-hand experience of sustainable palm oil production on an RSPO member’s plantation.
Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer and consumer of palm oil. In 2019, the country produced 42.87 million tonnes of palm oil, and about 19.8% (8.5 million tonnes) were produced sustainably through the RSPO certification scheme. However, the uptake of CSPO in Indonesia, which was only 2.14 million tonnes or less than 5% of the total production of palm oil, remains relatively low.
Among the reasons are: (1) lack of awareness among Indonesians about the use of palm oil in products; (2) lack of demand for sustainable products; (3) lack of knowledge in differentiating sustainable products based on ecolabel; (4) scarcity of labeled sustainable palm oil products in the Indonesian market; and (5) lack of dissemination of positive information on sustainable palm oil in Indonesia due to the negative issues associated with palm oil cultivation.
Therefore, we believe that the various programmes carried out in Indonesia will help accelerate the transformation of the country’s sustainable palm oil market and increase the demand for sustainable palm oil products. The engagement of Indonesian youth to help disseminate positive information on sustainable palm oil and promote sustainable consumption is also the right move to achieve this goal.
