Driving Village Self-Sufficiency through Agribusiness

Astra has officially handed over the keys to decent housing units (RLH) and launched the EcoBiz Desa Sejahtera Astra Garut program in Pakenjeng District, Garut Regency, West Java. This move is part of Astra’s ongoing commitment to improving residents’ quality of life while strengthening local economic empowerment based on regional potential. The event was attended by R. Haryo Bekti Martoyoedo, Director of Housing and Settlement Financing System Development at Indonesia’s Ministry of Housing and Settlement (PKP), Garut Regent Abdusy Syakur Amin, and West Java Housing and Settlement Agency Secretary Isma Andini Prihati. Also present were IPB University’s Head of Agromaritime Development and Innopreneurship Acceleration, Handian Purwawangsa, Astra’s Chief of Corporate Affairs Boy Kelana Soebroto, and Dharma Bhakti Astra Foundation Chairman Rahmat Samulo. In addition to the symbolic key handover, Astra and stakeholders also conducted a groundbreaking ceremony for the next phase of housing construction for Astra’s partnered villages in Garut. ‘Astra’s decent housing programme is part of its commitment to enhancing community quality of life through safer, healthier, and more comfortable homes. Astra hopes each house built will serve as a space for dreams, hope, and unity, while delivering tangible benefits for today’s and future Indonesia,’ said Astra’s Chief of Corporate Affairs, Boy Kelana Soebroto, in a written statement on Friday, 29 May 2026. To date, Astra has successfully built 250 decent housing units across two regions: 165 in Banyumas Regency and 85 in Garut. In Garut, the housing distribution is focused on four villages: Telaga Wangi, Marga Mulya, Jayamekar, and Cikandang. The programme is specifically designed to support carbon forest farmers under Astra’s Desa Sejahtera initiative, ensuring safer and healthier living conditions. Alongside the housing programme, Astra launched the EcoBiz Desa Sejahtera Astra Garut initiative as an economic driver for local communities. The facility is projected to become an integrated coffee processing hub linking the production chain from farmers and cooperatives directly to buyers. The large-scale project involves around 3,000 local farmers across over 1,500 hectares of land. Production capacity is expected to yield hundreds of tonnes of green bean coffee. In future, EcoBiz Desa Sejahtera Astra Garut will serve as an educational hub, ecotourism destination, and cross-sector collaboration platform. Previously, Astra initiated a coffee-based community programme in Garut’s Desa Sejahtera since 2020 in collaboration with IPB University. This partnership successfully established two business entities: Mandalagiri Coffee Producers Cooperative and Al-Bayyinah Sejahtera Cooperative. Both focus on coffee value chain development, farmer empowerment, and agroforestry development across 1,400 hectares of productive forest. Currently, Astra’s Desa Sejahtera programme in Garut integrates 10 partner villages under its Carbon Forest and Decent Housing initiatives. The comprehensive programme has reached over 4,000 beneficiaries, created new jobs, and boosted local incomes by 328 per cent. This upstream success has enabled Garut’s Astra Desa Sejahtera coffee to enter international markets, with exports to Europe. The initiative represents a major step in advancing village development while supporting Indonesia’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (H-2)