From Small Village to the European Market

Hello! Have you ever wondered how the “harvest” from small farmers in a village could end up at supermarket aisles in Europe? It sounds cool right? Like from the village root to the world plates. It sounds amazing, but unfortunately the journey isn’t that simple. There are many challenges for them, start from legality and quality standards to limited market access. Let’s explore how small farmers can reach the European market!

From: www.eeas.europa.eu

Firstly, did you know that the European Union has a new regulation called  EUDR or European Union Deforestation Regulation? This regulation comes with big goals “to reduce deforestation and forest degradation around the world”. Maybe some of you are confused about what those terms mean? Let me explain.

Deforestation means the forest is getting cut down, or purposeful clearing of forest land to be used for something else like agriculture and infrastructure. Meanwhile, degradation means the forest is still there, but the quality of the forest is reduced. For example, the soil is damaged, or the animals and plants are fewer. Both of these are mostly caused by humans and they have a big impact on the environment.

This regulation covers some commodities such as coffee, palm oil, woods, cocoa, rubber, cattle, and soybean. For Indonesia, those commodities are very important, because many small farmers earn their living from these products. 

Does this rule have anything to do with small farmers? Of course it does! On 30 December 2025 EUDR will start for general use, then on 30 June 2026 it will also apply to UMKM in Indonesia. It means EUDR can become an important base for products to be exported to Europe.

So, what are the documents that farmers need to prepare? To be ready, farmers need to collect some documents and data to face this regulation, such as right to cultivate or certificate or title, ISPO/RSPO for palm oil, FSC for woods, SNARPI/GPSNR for rubber, GIS (Geocoordinate Information System), and the farmer’s IC.

EUDR can be difficult because not all small farmers can complete the documents or have access to certification. But it is also a big chance if farmers can prepare it well, Indonesian products can have more value and stronger competitiveness to fight with products from other countries. (MayyT)