The Tanoto Foundation and Sukanto Tanoto's Commendable Efforts for Poverty Alleviation

Sukanto Tanoto and the renowned Tanoto Foundation have gained global recognition for the intense work put into improving poverty alleviation efforts. Mr. Tanoto and his foundation strive to provide better opportunities for education in areas where poverty is the main reason for illiteracy and the lack of proper resources, as well as bringing a new approach to empowerment. 

The Main Goals and Mission of the Tanoto Foundation

The Tanoto Foundation has been around for well over three decades, and its founder and chairman of the RGE group, Sukanto Tanoto, has spared no efforts in terms of ensuring that the Foundation is able to reach as many communities in need of help as possible.

The main mission of the Tanoto Foundation has always been to help people in need by providing improved educational resources and scholarships for children who may otherwise have great difficulty in obtaining academic success.

The Foundation focuses not only on implementing its own educational programs and empowering the beneficiaries; it also collaborates with powerful partners such as UNICEF, for the purpose of creating new academic opportunities for the children, teenagers and young adults in problem areas. Furthermore, the Foundation aims to document and improve humanitarian practices for the purpose of offering people a better chance to learn how to help themselves and gain access to resources and opportunities that would otherwise be difficult to attain.

Scholarships and Education

The Tanoto Foundation offers numerous scholarships to children in need, and their leader, Mr. Tanoto, constantly meets hundreds of Tanoto “Scholars” to provide them with advice, recommendations and ideas, in order to improve their approach on their life goals and achievements.

According to Mr. Tanoto, proper opportunities for improved education, better support from parents and the community, as well as financial support and resources from institutions such as the Tanoto Foundation can improve the lives of countless people, while giving them hope for a far better future.

Asian Agri and Plasma Smallholders

Asian Agri was recently awarded the “Best Community Program” at the 7th Global CSR Summit in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It has embarked on the successful partnership with their plasma smallholders since 1987, at the behest of Sukanto Tanoto, one of Indonesia’s renowned self-made entrepreneurs.   

In 1980s, Indonesia faced several social challenges mainly due to over-population in Java Island. Half a million families were moved from the densely populated Java to less densely populated islands of Sumatera, Kalimantan to achieve a more balanced population density, under the Transmigration Program. 

Indonesia’s leaders had a vision that the agriculture sector, including oil palm plantation, would play a major role in the development of its economy.  The idea was to integrate more Established Plantation Operations including processing facilities and infrastructures with smallholders’ plantations called PIR-Trans (Perkebunan Inti Rakyat-Transmigrasi). The PIR-Trans program is a long-term commitment between the plantation company and the transmigrated communities.  Few companies were willing to adopt the program. 

Sukanto Tanoto thought differently from the other companies’ owners. He knows that for a company to be successful, the surrounding community and the country must be successful. So he & Asian Agri became a pioneer to participate in the PIR-Trans program. As the transmigrated communities used to be paddy farmers, and therefore unfamiliar with crop plantations such as oil palm, Asian Agri began by teaching them plantation skills and turning the empty land given by the government into oil palm plantations.

Today, this community partnership program is one of the most successful partnerships that lifted the lives of the transmigrated communities out of poverty. Their income now is significantly higher than regional minimum wages & GDP per capita of Indonesia. Asian Agri has put into practice Sukanto Tanoto’s philosophy of Good for the Community, Good for the Country and Good for the Company and by doing so, transformed the lives of the 29,000 plasma smallholders.