How Rumah Tani Boosts Farmers' Welfare Through Market Access and Logistics

Rumah Tani provides various forms of guidance to boost farmers’ welfare. Farmers receive education on agriculture, market access, and financial literacy.

Rumah Tani President Director Bahtiar stated that the organisation guarantees marketing and purchasing, enabling farmers to maintain their agricultural processes from the planting season onwards. “They are assured that Rumah Tani will purchase their produce at a fair price. This is what we have been doing in various regions. Rumah Tani operates in Sumatra, Java, and Bali. We continue to build market access for farmers because the bottleneck is the market,” he revealed during CNBC Indonesia’s Economic Update 2026, themed ‘Performance Achievements and Direction for Strengthening Priority Programmes’, on Tuesday (23/6/2026).

Bahtiar explained that Rumah Tani collaborates with Bank Indonesia to control national inflation. This cooperation is based on Rumah Tani’s food balance database. “We can determine when a region is in surplus or deficit. The self-sufficiency surplus is typically calculated as an annual accumulation,” he clarified. Using this food balance data, Rumah Tani ensures farmers receive fair selling prices for their commodities, and the data also aids in market expansion.

Rumah Tani has also partnered with PT Pos Indonesia to handle logistics for harvest distribution. “No matter how abundant the harvest, if it cannot be transported to other regions, it becomes a problem,” Bahtiar noted. He cited difficulties in transporting chilli peppers during the peak harvest in Central Aceh in November and December 2025 due to limited land logistics. “At that time, a lot of farmers’ chillies could not be transported. Therefore, we believe the key lies in data and logistics collaboration. Strengthening food logistics is crucial,” he stressed.

Consequently, improving food logistics remains a task for the government to assist farmers across various regions. “So that our farmers in remote areas can be helped to sell their produce,” he said.

Currently, Rumah Tani has 27,400 registered farmers spread across Sumatra, Java, and Bali. The organisation holds a strong position in the supply chain by operating in 13 wholesale markets across these islands. “This allows us to cut supply chain inefficiencies. We are accustomed to buying directly from farmers and selling directly to the market, and the market is our internal market. We build these markets at wholesale centres,” he stated. Additionally, Rumah Tani is constructing around 2,000 outlets for vegetable commodities, which is expected to expand the market for its member farmers. “This will enable us to accommodate more farmers, as interest in joining Rumah Tani is currently very high, with hundreds of farmers wanting to join,” Bahtiar concluded.