akar.earthSmallholder: Definition
What is a smallholder? How smallholder farmers are defined in Indonesia, and why they matter for agroforestry carbon projects and EUDR compliance.
A smallholder is a farmer or household that manages a small area of land, typically a few hectares, mainly with family labour. In Indonesia, smallholders grow much of the country’s coffee, cocoa, rubber and a large share of its oil palm, often alongside food crops and trees.
Why it matters
Smallholders sit at the centre of two markets. For carbon, they hold land where tree planting, agroforestry and soil practices can generate removals, but each farm is too small to be a project alone. For EUDR, their plots must be mapped and traced, and they are the group most at risk of being dropped from EU supply chains if data is missing. How projects and buyers treat smallholders shapes both integrity and livelihoods.
How smallholders are engaged
- Aggregation: many farms join one grouped project, with shared monitoring and a single project design. See smallholder ARR aggregation.
- Registration and consent: each farmer is registered, plots are mapped and consent is recorded. See farmer registration and consent.
- Benefit sharing: clear rules on how carbon revenue reaches farmers.
- Support: seedlings, training and extension that make tree planting worthwhile.
Indonesia and Southeast Asia angle
Indonesian smallholders often lack formal land titles. Oil palm smallholders under 25 ha can register through an STDB (cultivation registration letter), but many have not. Land may be inherited, shared or held under customary rules. That complicates carbon rights and EUDR geolocation alike. Social forestry permits give some farmers legal access to state forest land for agroforestry. See palm oil smallholders and EUDR.
Data ownership is another concern. Farmers should know what data is collected about them and their plots, who will see it and how it is used, especially when the same data serves carbon buyers and EUDR operators.
Common mistakes
- Treating smallholders as passive suppliers rather than project partners.
- Signing up farmers without informed consent or clear contracts.
- Ignoring that farm boundaries and ownership change over time.
- Paying carbon revenue years after planting, when farmers need cash early.
Read more on the agroforestry hub.
Frequently asked questions
How big is a smallholder farm?
There is no single global size. Many definitions use a few hectares. In Indonesian oil palm, plantations under 25 ha are generally treated as smallholder holdings that register rather than need a full plantation business licence.
Can smallholders join carbon projects?
Yes, usually through a grouped or aggregated project in which a developer or cooperative manages many farms under one project design.