Before IPB graduates, Deputy Cooperatives Minister invites young generation to look at cooperatives

Deputy Minister of Cooperatives (Wamenkop) Farida Farichah has invited the younger generation, including graduates of the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), to regard cooperatives as a modern economic institution that is relevant to the times.

“Cooperatives are not merely a campaign, but a constitutional mandate,” Farida said at the graduation ceremony for IPB’s multistrata education programme, Stage I, Academic Year 2026/2027, at the IPB Dramaga Campus in Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday.

Quoted from a ministry press release, Farida said cooperatives are part of the economic policy direction championed by the government as mandated by Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution.

Furthermore, Farida assessed that university graduates, particularly those from IPB with strengths in agriculture, animal husbandry, marine sciences and biosciences, have great potential to contribute to solving various societal problems, including through cooperatives.

According to her, the knowledge acquired during their studies is not enough to be mastered merely academically, but needs to be translated into works and solutions that provide tangible benefits.

She also said Indonesia needs a generation that not only masters knowledge, but is also able to see real problems in society and provide solutions to existing issues.

Farida said graduation is not the end of the educational journey, but rather the beginning of carrying greater responsibility towards the environment and society.

She encouraged graduates to take on roles according to their respective fields, whether as researchers who provide solutions, bureaucrats who side with the people, professionals who bring change, or entrepreneurs who create job opportunities.

To that end, Farida invited the younger generation to see cooperatives as one of the economic platforms that can be developed innovatively and adapted to the times.