Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment Launches Integrated Community Empowerment Pilot Project

The Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment (Kemenko PM) inaugurated the Pilot Project for an Integrated Community Empowerment Ecosystem Based on Export Zones through the development of a Coconut Sugar Export Zone and the Independent Women through Chicken Farming Programme (PERMATA) in Cilongok District, Banyumas Regency, Central Java, on Thursday, 25 June 2026. This programme marks the initial step in implementing 1001 Community Empowerment Zones as a model for poverty alleviation based on local potential. Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, A. Muhaimin Iskandar, known as Cak Imin, asserted that zones with superior commodity potential yet high poverty rates must become the focus of empowerment interventions. ‘Poverty in productive areas is not destiny. Our task is to ensure that the potential of the area truly benefits the community,’ Cak Imin stated. Deputy for Coordination of Village, Disadvantaged Regions, and Special Regions Community Empowerment, Abdul Haris, explained that the launch of the Coconut Sugar Export Zone and the PERMATA Programme are two complementary pillars of empowerment. The export zone strengthens the value chain of superior commodities, while PERMATA promotes women’s empowerment through ELBA chicken cultivation in 15 villages to bolster family economic resilience. This pilot project is expected to become a model for area-based community empowerment that can be replicated in various superior commodity centres across Indonesia. ‘Cilongok today is not just a district in Banyumas, but the starting point of the journey towards 1001 Community Empowerment Zones throughout Indonesia,’ Abdul Haris concluded. Additionally, a symbolic handover of a collaboration between Bank Mandiri and the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment took place, involving the provision of laying hen cultivation facilities and infrastructure, as well as awards to partners and zone collaborators such as Bank Mandiri, the National Alms Agency (Baznas RI), Eduwisata Pereng, Banyumas Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda), the Open University Alumni Association (IKA UT), Widuri Production Zone, Maripan Farmers Cooperative, Jenderal Soedirman University, and Village on Mars (VoM). Meanwhile, Muhammad Faishol, a representative of the native youth of Banyumas and a member of the Cilongok Empowerment Zone Development Team, welcomed this major collaboration. According to him, youth involvement is key to the sustainability of the people’s coconut sugar industry. ‘There have been concerns about the regeneration of sap tappers in Banyumas. Through the modernisation of the ecosystem from upstream to downstream and this cooperative platform, we young people see a bright future in the village. Coconut sugar is no longer just a traditional profession, but a world-class export commodity that is a source of pride and capable of breaking the chain of poverty in Cilongok,’ Faishol said.