Red-and-White Village Cooperatives Serve as Off-taker of Village Produce, Ensuring Direct Benefit for Community

The Government affirmed the role of the Red-and-White Village Cooperatives (KDMP) as a distribution center for various government assistances and off-taker of village agricultural produce.

“The Red-and-White Village Cooperatives is a government infrastructure. What are its functions? We have decided that the cooperatives will disburse government assistance, social assistance, and subsidized goods,” Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan said in a press statement at the Presidential Palace compound, Jakarta on Wednesday (07/15).

In addition, the cooperatives also play a role as the off-taker of communities’ agricultural produce. That role, he said, is crucial particularly when agricultural commodity prices have fallen below the prices set by the Government.

“Its second function is as an off-taker. In the event that the price of unhusked rice, corn, and other commodities is below the government-set price, the cooperatives will purchase agricultural produce at government-set prices,” he added.

In the meantime, Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions Yandri Susanto said that the KDMP program is projected to bring tangible benefits for village communities since the profit earned by the cooperatives will directly benefit the community and contribute to increasing village revenue.

“From that profit, 20 percent will become the village’s revenue,” he said, adding that the remaining 80 percent will also circulate within the village, making the program beneficial for village communities. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (RAS/MMB)