"I thank all parties involved in social forestry because this is the manifestation of President Prabowo Subianto's vision," Antoni said in a statement on Sunday.
He explained that the KUPS has implemented a traceability system and marketing scheme based on blockchain technology, in line with the European Union's Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) standards.
"We can now export coffee to Dubai, and with traceability technology, we can track both the origin of the coffee and its price," the minister continued.
He then expressed hope to create clusters for social forestry products.
According to him, this effort aims to ensure both community welfare and forest sustainability, as envisioned by the president.
"The goal is a prosperous society. The president wants us to maximize social forestry to improve the people's welfare and realize sustainable forestry," Antoni remarked.
Meanwhile, the Head of Commission IV, Titiek Soeharto, conveyed her support for the social forestry program, including providing subsidized fertilizer to forest farmers.
"Commission IV strongly supports this social forestry program. We have backed the program by encouraging the Minister of Agriculture to provide subsidized fertilizer to forest farmers," Titiek pointed out.
She also thanked Antoni and his team for the progress made in social forestry and expressed hope that other regions would continue to participate in the program.
"We hope this can inspire other regional governments to participate and succeed in the social forestry program," she said.
The Minister of Forestry and the Head of Commission IV also disbursed 45 small grant assistance packages worth Rp3.07 billion (US$177 thousand) and handed over 17 legal documents for KUPS Enterprise.
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Translator: Arnidhya Nur Z, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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