REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has urged the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to support the nation's sustainable palm oil. She explained palm oil plantations significantly contribute to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

"The FAO's support to sustainable palm oil in Indonesia is equally important," Minister Marsudi stated at a meeting with new FAO Representative to Indonesia Stephen Rudgard, who submitted his credentials on Monday, the FAO noted in the statement made available to Antara here on Tuesday.

At the meeting, Marsudi also voiced Indonesia's concern for improving food security.

"I emphasized the importance of small farmers in the global food supply chain," the minister remarked on her Twitter account.

Meanwhile, Rudgard reaffirmed FAO's support to the Indonesian government's policy to empower smallholder farmers by focusing on improving the lives and livelihoods of the country's rural poor population. Rudgard stated that the improvement will focus on the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor, particularly their economic and nutritional conditions.

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"We should aim for a balanced approach that optimizes commercial development of the farming sector while improving key aspects of food security and nutrition. Reliable access to sufficient healthy and nutritious food is a key target," he noted in a press statement here on Tuesday.

The FAO highlights the importance of smallholders and family farming. Some 90 percent of the world's 570 million farms are owned and operated by families. Several of these smallholder farmer families are poor, face food insecurity, and have limited access to markets and services.

"Sustainable agriculture is needed to tackle the challenges of producing more food, creating more jobs, and preserving natural resources. Developing smallholder farmer families lies at the heart of the solution," Rudgard explained.

The meeting also highlighted the need to have a sustainable palm oil sector in Indonesia, as some 48 percent of the palm oil plantations are in the hands of smallholders.

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