The collaboration was formalized through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Jakarta on Tuesday.
“Realizing food self-sufficiency is not only about meeting national food needs, but also about uplifting dignity by empowering people to move from poverty toward self-reliance,” Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said after the MoU signing.
According to him, poverty alleviation efforts must address root causes rather than symptoms. He cited an example of an agriculture-based community empowerment program implemented in one district that succeeded in reducing the local poverty rate from 38 percent to 8 percent within two years.
The program identified poor households directly and provided targeted assistance, including agricultural equipment suited to their needs.
The minister emphasized that cross-sectoral collaboration is crucial, as the agriculture sector involves 160 million citizens and supports 70 percent of Indonesia’s population, playing a vital role in improving welfare and economic independence.
The collaboration between the ministry and BP Taskin will begin with a pilot project in 10 districts with relatively high poverty rates.
The initiative goes beyond direct assistance by encouraging local economic transformation based on agricultural potential, including productivity improvement and the provision of modern agricultural tools.
Using an agglomeration scheme, Sulaiman said, each target district will serve as a hub for four surrounding districts, allowing the intervention to generate not only local but also regional impacts.
This approach is expected to accelerate poverty reduction and become a model of inclusive development for other regions across Indonesia.
BP Taskin Head Budiman Sudjatmiko said the MoU would be followed by a coordination meeting between the two parties to ensure accurate data and effective interventions. He noted that BP Taskin had collected poverty data in 10 districts this year, which would be integrated into the Ministry of Agriculture’s programs.
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Translator: Muhammad Harianto, Raka Adji
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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