The Ministry of Agriculture collaborates with Gempita to involve young people in valley agriculture

The Ministry of Agriculture continues to encourage and facilitate the growth of agricultural or agri-business enterprises run by younger generations. The government is committed to overseeing the regeneration of farmers and making agriculture a strategic business environment

Jakarta (MidLand) – The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) is working with the Indonesian Farmers’ Youth Movement (Gempita) to engage youth in supporting downstream agriculture so it can improve the economy.

“The Department of Agriculture continues to encourage and facilitate the growth of agricultural businesses or entrepreneur run by the younger generations. “The government is committed to overseeing the regeneration of farmers and making agriculture a strategic and profitable enterprise or business,” Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.

According to the Minister of Agriculture, according to the data of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), labor absorption in the agricultural sector is in the highest category compared to other economic sectors such as trade and also the processing industry.

“This shows that the agricultural sector is still the main means of livelihood for the Indonesian people today,” Amran said.

Based on BPS data, Amran continued, the number of people working in the agricultural sector in the first quarter of 2023 reached 29.36%. Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2024 it will be 28.64% and will represent an increase of 0.03 million people (year-on-year) compared to the total number of Indonesia’s working population of 142.18 million people.

According to the Minister of Agriculture, the high data on labor absorption in the hotel and food sectors cannot be separated from the contribution of the agricultural sector, which is also increasing.

“On the other hand, the BPS also noted that the distribution and growth of the agricultural sector in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) ranks third with a result of 11.61%. “The agricultural sector is one of the pillars of the Indonesian economy”, said the Minister of Agriculture.

Therefore, the Minister of Agriculture hopes that the Indonesian Farmers Youth Movement can help engage young people so that they can see and exploit the business opportunities arising from downstream food processing so that they can provide added economic value.

“This step is important considering that agriculture has enormous economic opportunities, especially in terms of improving the overall well-being of farmers,” the Agriculture Minister added.

Meanwhile, Gempita’s national coordinator Ibrahim Asnawi said the downstream process could start from the island of Sulawesi as one of the main gateways to the Indonesian agricultural market.

He asked each Gempita regional coordinator in Sulawesi to prepare a proud product that could be marketed in domestic and international markets.

“Therefore, I encourage my regional coordinator friends across Sulawesi to create a project for agricultural areas that will be a source of pride in each region and can be managed from upstream to downstream, so that there is a price increase that can improve farmers’ productivity. well-being,” Asnawi said.

According to Asnawi, downstreaming is necessary to strengthen government programs aimed at increasing people’s income. In this regard, the role of young people is more necessary than ever because it is through their hands that new innovations can be introduced in agricultural transformations.

“Because if friends stop at the upstream stage, it will be difficult to hope to improve the well-being of farmers. If the well-being of existing farmers is difficult to improve, then the interest of young people in the world of agriculture will decrease,” he said .

Asnawi added that his party has coordinated with the Gempita coordinator for South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Gorontalo and North Sulawesi to prepare plans for agricultural districts for the food needs of the Indonesian capital (IKN).

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Reporter: Muhammad Harianto
Editor: Ahmad Buchori
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