Since the NDPE policy was first announced in December 2013 by the palm oil industries, many parties are "concerned" that it will negatively impact smallholders,  for they can’t compete on the supply chain market and their products will be rejected because of the adjusted standard of NDPE, and they will also be cut off from market access with all the challenges they have such as; material legality,  knowledge capacity, and farmer institutions.​

Smallholders farmers have an important role in the palm oil industry and contribute approximately 41% of the palm oil in the world. As of March 2022, there are more than 9,9 million hectares that are indicated as the fields of smallholder farmers globally (Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand, Ghana, and Colombia). From those numbers, 4.5 million hectares (in Indonesia and Malaysia) have already been listed as land parcels, and 189.000 hectares are where the identities of the farmers are confirmed with field knowledge. ​ For the details, please download https://rb.gy/ysjomp.