Mid Term Evaluation of the KAMI Sustainability of Malaysian and Indonesian Palm Oil programme

This report reviews KAMI (Sustainability of Malaysian and Indonesian Palm Oil), assessing relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, EU added value and coherence, and providing lessons and recommendations for Malaysia and Indonesia.

The mid-term evaluation of KAMI assesses an EU Partnership Instrument action implemented by the European Forest Institute to support constructive EU–Malaysia and EU–Indonesia engagement on palm oil sustainability. It reviews performance up to Dec 2023 (with some later updates), using interviews/FGDs with 58 stakeholders and document review.

Findings show high relevance to the EU Green Deal and deforestation-free supply chains, with KAMI helping keep political dialogue open amid tensions around RED II and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). In Indonesia, stakeholders report strong progress: support to Sustainable Jurisdiction Indicators and the National Dashboard, traceability pilots, work on smallholder inclusion, certification gap analysis and technical cooperation.

In Malaysia, early misalignment (attempting to transfer Indonesia’s jurisdictional/SPIV approach) reduced effectiveness and efficiency, leading to delays and pushback. After Dec 2023, the project realigned toward Malaysian systems, notably MSPO and an MPOCC–EFI gap assessment on EUDR information needs, and supported the EUDR Joint Task Force.

Key recommendations include deepening engagement with industry and smallholders, improving communication beyond closed “no-surprise” channels, strengthening engagement with Sabah/Sarawak, and considering more country-tailored future designs while maintaining the Task Force cooperation.