This was conveyed by Deputy Minister of Cooperatives, Ferry Juliantono, at the inauguration of the Sentul Milk House Unit (Rumah Susu) of the Kujang Sauyunan Berdikari Consumer Cooperative in Bogor District, West Java, on Tuesday.
"This cooperative-owned Milk House serves the kitchens in the Free Nutritious Meals program," he informed.
He said that the effort will be carried out through the Red and White Village Cooperative (Kopdes) Program, which targets to set up 80 thousand Kopdes across Indonesia that will have their own milk processing units, in addition to other business units.
Juliantono said that the Milk House is an important part of the national milk supply chain, which caters to the nutritional needs of Indonesian children and drives the cooperative and community livestock sectors upstream.
"The Milk House can increase the added value of fresh milk from local dairy farmers," he added.
He then shared his experience visiting Boyolali, Central Java, to review the issues faced by local dairy farmers.
He informed that the milk produced by farmers and cooperatives is not absorbed by the milk processing industry (IPS).
"Therefore, I emphasize that cooperatives must have their own IPS. I appreciate the Kujang Sauyunan Berdikari Cooperative for establishing and developing the Milk House concept," he said.
On the same occasion, Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Dadan Hindayana emphasized that milk is a mandatory component of the MBG program, especially in areas with dairy farms.
According to Hindayana, one of the BGN's functions is creating demand, especially by absorbing local farmers' milk production.
"We hope the MBG program can absorb milk production from local farmers. MBG must increase economic welfare in the community," he added.
Meanwhile, Head of the Kujang Sauyunan Berdikari Cooperative Muchlido Apriliast said that the Milk House concept can be replicated in other areas with potential for dairy farms.
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Translator: M Fikri Setiawan, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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