BI Targets Islamic Boarding Schools as Inflation Controllers
Bank Indonesia’s (BI) Representative Office in Bengkulu Province has established the “Wakaf Trendi” programme designed to enable Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) to develop competitive independent business units with the goal of becoming an inflation control mechanism.
This year, BI has expanded the programme’s scope to target three pesantren as beneficiaries, representing a significant increase compared to last year, which began with just one pilot initiative.
“Wakaf Trendi is part of Bank Indonesia’s innovation to encourage productivity and empowerment of pesantren,” said Wahyu Yuwana Hidayat, Head of Bank Indonesia’s Representative Office in Bengkulu Province, in Bengkulu on Monday, 16 March 2026.
He explained that Wakaf TRENDI (Trengginas, Edukatif, Mandiri—meaning dynamic, educational, and independent) focuses on productivity to achieve food self-sufficiency for boarding school students. BI, through a digital wallet, collects funds from the community, which are then endowed to pesantren to develop productive enterprises in agriculture and livestock farming.
This year, collected funds will be utilised for chilli cultivation spanning 2 hectares at Pondok Pesantren Entrepreneur Hafidz Qur’an in Kepahiang District, egg-laying poultry farming with 400 birds managed by Pondok Pesantren Al-Karim in Bengkulu City, and hydroponic vegetable cultivation of pak choi and lettuce at Pondok Pesantren Abdurrahman Al-Fatih in Bengkulu City.
According to Wahyu, developing business units in pesantren aims to address production-side challenges, particularly in food production. The hope is that by establishing productive enterprises, pesantren can not only meet internal needs but also synergise with broader markets to serve community demand.
He added that one strategic target of pesantren production is to support national government programmes. “Beyond domestic markets and the pesantren’s own needs, production will later be synergised to support the Free Nutritious Meal Programme (MBG),” he continued.
BI is optimistic that by encouraging pesantren’s economic independence, these educational institutions can increase food supplies in society. Surplus production from sectors such as livestock, fisheries, and plantations is expected to be absorbed by the general market.
Wahyu revealed that the Wakaf Trendi fund collection in 2026 demonstrates a positive trend. To date, collected funds have reached Rp 100,050,000, a dramatic increase compared to last year’s total of Rp 33,000,000.
As context, in the previous period, waqf funds were allocated to productive sectors through the Muhammadiyah network, focusing on livestock and palm oil plantations. This year, with an average allocation of approximately Rp 30 million per pesantren, BI is focused on increasing production capacity at each selected pesantren.
“Although over one hundred million has been achieved to date, this figure can still increase as the fund collection process has not closed. These funds will be utilised entirely to increase production capacity at those pesantren,” he said.