Working together for sustainable palm oil in Mexico

In Mexico, Proforest is working with PepsiCo, Nestle, Oleopalma (a palm oil production company) and Femexpalma (the Mexican Federation of Oil Palm producers) on a sector-wide collaboration focused on making Mexico’s palm oil more sustainable, with a particular focus on supporting smallholders.

The Mexico Palm Oil Holistic Program has three main aims: strengthening sector-wide awareness of sustainability; smallholder inclusion; and promoting ‘No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation’ (NDPE) policies. In 2 years, Proforest and Femexpalma have delivered training on the sustainable production of palm oil to 111 professionals, including mill workers, consultants, technicians and organizations, from 6 countries.​ 

To support the NDPE element of the program, Proforest develops HCV and HCSA probability maps, used to classify areas of low, medium and high risk, for the four palm-oil-producing regions of Mexico. We have also trained more than 200 smallholders in the HCV approach, helping them to identify HCVs where they farm and to agree on a plan for monitoring and protection.