Continental has extended its project to enhance sustainability in smallholder natural rubber cultivation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH by three years.

Since 2018, around 5,000 local smallholders in West Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, have already been trained to cultivate high quality natural rubber in line with clearly defined sustainability criteria. By 2027, a further 1,000 smallholders are to be involved in the project, which is co-funded by Continental and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The gains are threefold: the smallholders' income has increased by an average of 27 percent since the start of the project; together with GIZ, Continental is building valuable capacity to improve sustainability in the cultivation of natural rubber by smallholders and to use responsibly sourced natural rubber in products; and precious forests and peatlands are preserved in the project region in Indonesia.

"As one of the largest tire manufacturers in the world, we have a particular responsibility in the natural rubber supply chain. That is why we are committed at all levels and are building capacity locally", says Dr. Michael Radke, Head of Sustainability in Purchasing at Continental. He adds: "Over the past few years, together with GIZ, we have shown that we can make the natural rubber supply chain transparent and at the same time increase farmers' incomes. Now we want to reach even more smallholders and create the framework conditions for the successes achieved to be sustained".