FISIP UPR Dean: Build a Cooperative Ecosystem to Empower Communities
Palangka Raya (ANTARA) - Bhayu Rhama, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) at the University of Palangka Raya (UPR) in Central Kalimantan, said the launch of the Red and White Village/Neighbourhood Cooperatives by President Prabowo Subianto is only a first step.
“So our focus must shift from merely building cooperatives towards building a cooperative ecosystem,” he said in Palangka Raya on Thursday.
The real challenge is ensuring that cooperatives can grow into professional village economic institutions that are trusted by the community and capable of improving welfare.
The launch of the Red and White Village/Neighbourhood Cooperatives marks an important milestone in accelerating village- and neighbourhood-based economic development. In Central Kalimantan, efforts to accelerate the programme continue.
Bhayu argued that the programme’s success must not be measured merely by the number of cooperatives established or buildings constructed.
This concept aligns with the government’s policy direction, which positions the Red and White Cooperatives not as competitors to community shops or mere trading units, but as nodes for strengthening village economies that build partnerships with MSMEs, farmers’ groups, fishers, local business actors and various community economic institutions.
A healthy cooperative does not only have access to financing, but also has good governance, strong leadership, high member participation, public trust, and productive business units that develop in line with local potential.
This view, he continued, stems from the empirical experience of FISIP at the University of Palangka Raya through various research and community service activities. Mentoring results show that newly established cooperatives generally face problems of organisational capacity, governance, transparency, accountability, leadership, and low levels of public trust.
“So institutional mentoring must go hand in hand with business development and community empowerment,” he said.
As an implementation of this approach, FISIP UPR has been mentoring the Red and White Cooperative of Bukit Tunggal neighbourhood in Jekan Raya subdistrict, Palangka Raya city, through cross-disciplinary collaboration.
The team of lecturers from the Department of Government Science strengthened the cooperative’s institutions through a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach by reinforcing governance, transparency, accountability and leadership, and increasing member participation.
Meanwhile, the Department of Sociology developed the community economic empowerment dimension through entrepreneurship training based on local potential, producing a flagship product of shredded snakehead fish, accompanied by brand identity development, packaging design, digital marketing, and the formation of cooperative-based business groups.
Evaluation results show an increase in members’ capacity and understanding of cooperative management, as well as growing confidence to develop productive businesses based on local resources.
“That experience teaches us that cooperatives will grow stronger if institutional strengthening runs alongside the development of business units that match the characteristics of the local economy,” he said.
He explained that a cooperative is not enough to be a place to sell goods; it must become a centre of learning, a centre of innovation, and ultimately a centre of community economic empowerment.
The Dean of FISIP UPR affirmed that, as a state university in Central Kalimantan, the faculty stands ready to be a strategic partner of the provincial government in overseeing the implementation of the Red and White Cooperatives across the province.