This week, we will be featuring our Master Trainers from BioAp, ESM and Pauta P&D in Latin America.
In their recent training in July 2020, they organised an online virtual group training session for 18 individuals from 11 various palm oil sectors related to smallholder producers; joining from Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil and Guatemala. The 3-day online training session encompassed topics on role of group manager, composition of the group, rights and obligations of its members, Internal Control System, audits and access to market through the sales of credits.
The training prior to that, in March 2020, was located in Campeche, Mexico with 33 participants attended. During the 3-day physical training course, the participants learnt about group management and also introduction to new standard for independent smallholders. Various entities ranging from palm producers, group managers, members of certifying bodies and NGO attended.
Juan Pablo Zorro (BioAp), Miguel Tejada (ESM) and Duperly González (BioAp/Pauta D&B) are the 3 Master Trainers involved in both the trainings. The trainings were held with the notion to create awareness and promote sustainable palm oil production to individuals and sectors involved. The trainers also expressed the essential of shared responsibility of the supply chain to improve the livelihood of these smallholder farmers, hence they voiced that is it important to continue coordinating subsequent trainings. We managed to capture what was shared from them regarding their trainings:
1. Material learnt from the Smallholder Training Academy was combined with their own material to build based on their experience in the field (the three trainers have experience in conducting studies of environmental and social impacts, High Conservation Values, and implementation and consulting of the different RSPO standards).
2. A chapter on Internal Control System (ICS) was included to help managers who do not know how to implement ICS.
3. Explanation on the Independent Smallholder Standard 2019's principles, criteria, indicators, declarations and commitments were included, as well as the inclusion to market credit as an incentive. They shared the importance of having both managers and producers having a clear understanding about how the standard is built and what its requirements are (at the manager level and at the group level).
4. Finally, they will share about the importance of a robust internal training system, comprehensive technical assistance (good agricultural practices, good environmental practices and good social practices) and internal auditing, to achieve the cohesion and permanence of the group.
Click here to get to see our list of Master Trainers.