Agriculture Ministry expands YESS programme to boost young farmer interest

The Ministry of Agriculture is expanding the Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Support Service (YESS) programme from four provinces to eight in an effort to increase young people’s interest in agricultural entrepreneurship. “We are opening opportunities for young people, both those already involved in the agricultural sector and those who are not, by providing them a pathway,” said Idha Widi Arsanti, Head of the Agricultural Human Resources Extension and Development Agency (BPPSDMP) at the Ministry of Agriculture, following a National Entrepreneurship Seminar in Jakarta on Thursday. Idha stated that the YESS programme aims to help young farmers build businesses in agriculture and is expected to foster sustainability and growth through enhanced skills capacity, business management abilities, and a shift in business mindset, in order to boost agricultural production in Indonesia. “We will expand the area. Previously it was in four provinces, now it will be in eight provinces,” she said. Idha mentioned that the provinces to be involved in the YESS programme include West Java, East Java, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Central Java, and South Sumatra. She added that the programme, which has been running since 2019, will continue to be evaluated with the hope that it can be sustainable in the future. The programme will provide a number of benefits for young farmers, including technical guidance, training, apprenticeships, assistance in accessing KUR (people’s business credit), and network or cluster optimisation. “This programme provides grants to those who have business proposals and need development; we then provide a grant of a certain amount of money, according to their needs to develop their business activities,” she added.