Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Agriculture Ministry and the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment have joined forces to accelerate poverty alleviation through agriculture-based economic empowerment.
"The most effective and targeted approach to poverty alleviation is empowerment," Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar said following a meeting with Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman in Jakarta on Monday.
The strategy aims to make communities more productive, help them build businesses, and boost their income sustainably.
Both ministries discussed plans to develop high-value commodities, bolster production, and enhance downstream processing and marketing within a unified empowerment ecosystem to deliver direct benefits to the public.
Muhaimin stressed that empowerment is a key approach of President Prabowo Subianto's administration to break the cycle of poverty, aiming to not only help people meet their basic needs, but also gain economic capacity to achieve self-reliance and build thriving businesses.
"Empowerment-driven initiatives alleviate poverty while simultaneously reducing reliance on government subsidies," the minister said.
He added that the Agriculture Ministry holds immense potential to strengthen this approach, given the sector's expansive economic value chain, spanning raw material production to processing and marketing.
"When every link in the chain is connected, communities do more than just produce goods; they obtain added value and unlock greater business opportunities," he remarked.
The government has designated 88 districts and cities as priority targets for poverty reduction. To accelerate results, authorities will refine the selection of pilot project locations based on local needs, regional potential, and available budget allocation.
Several key commodities championed include chili, cassava, and poultry. These sectors are seen as having strong potential for development tailored to regional characteristics while driving local economic activity.
He stressed that empowerment must go beyond merely boosting production. The government, he continued, needs to ensure that community outputs gain added value, meet market demand, and benefit from guaranteed off-taking.
To achieve this, cross-ministerial collaboration is essential to link commodity development with processing, packaging, distribution, and marketing.
Muhaimin cited coconut downstream processing spearheaded by the Agriculture Ministry as an example, suggesting the replication of this model for other regions.
Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman emphasized that agriculture-based poverty alleviation initiatives require an integrated ecosystem linking various stakeholders.
Synergy between central and local governments, business actors, and communities is key to transforming agricultural potential into productive economic activity.
In this regard, the Agriculture Ministry will strengthen an approach tailored to commodity and regional potential by connecting farmers' yields with processing and market access.
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Translator: Muhammad Harianto, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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