Presidential Special Staffer Launches Millennial Farmers Program in E. Kalimantan

Presidential Special Staffer Billy Mambrasar launches Millennial Farmers Program in East Kalimantan, (03/22) (Presidential Special Staffer Team)

Special Staff of the President Billy Mambrasar Friday (03/22) attended the Launch of the East Kalimantan Millennial Farmers Program at the Technical Implementing Unit of the Agency for Parent Seed in Kutai Kertanegara regency, East Kalimantan province.

The program is designed to serve as a catalyst for the regeneration of farmers and the capacity building of young farmers to ensure food security in the East Kalimantan province, especially in the Nusantara Capital (IKN).

“The launch of the program is an idea from the Acting Governor of East Kalimantan Akmal Malik who hopes that the agricultural ecosystem supporting the development of the IKN is ready from now,” Billy said.

Billy also expressed his appreciation to all parties, including the Ministry of Agriculture and East Kalimantan Provincial Government, who have collaborated to realize the launch of the program.

For the record, over the past four years, the Millennial Farmers Program has been launched in more than 15 provinces throughout Indonesia. Billy said that this program has successfully documented young farmers in several provinces in Indonesia and has collaborated with the private sector as well as state-owned enterprises (BUMN) to empower young people in the agriculture sector.

“In addition to the private sector and the BUMN, we also manage international grants through the Kitong Bisa Foundation to target young people in the outermost regions of Indonesia. So, we provide training for young people who are already focused on farming, as well as introducing farming skills to young people who previously had no interest or background in agriculture,” he added.

On that occasion, Acting Governor of East Kalimantan Akmal Malik emphasized the need for breakthroughs to attract young people to engage in the agricultural sector.

“We can no longer use old methods. To attract the interest of young people in farming, we need to create modern agriculture and utilize advanced technology,” Akmal said.

Akmal further said that the East Kalimantan Millennial Farmers Program can serve as a collaborative step to promote productivity improvement in the agricultural sector in East Kalimantan.

Echoing the same sentiment, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Head of the Agricultural Education Center Idha Widi Arsanti underscored the importance of involving young people in the agricultural sector.

“Our farmers are getting older, while the need for food is not decreasing. That is why it is very important to encourage farmer regeneration, which will certainly support food security,” said Idha.

Furthermore, Idha said that through the Millennial Farmers Program, the Ministry of Agriculture is collaborating with Presidential Special Staffer Billy Mambrasar to target 100,000 young generations to be trained in the agricultural sector.

“We have to be grateful that this program is recorded through vocational education, vocational training, YESS Grants, PWMP (Program for Young Farmers), and Millennial Farmers Ambassadors. This program is recorded to have benefited more than 500,000 people, including through state budgets and international grants. Moreover, some of them have also received access to People’s Business Credit (KUR) with a total of Rp6 trillion,” she remarked. (Presidential Special Staffer Team/UN) (AP/LW)