KDKMP Becomes New Weapon Against Middlemen, Zulhas: Village Economy Can Rise Through...

The government is continuously pushing to strengthen the village economy through a new strategy deemed capable of reducing farmers’ dependence on middlemen. One of them is through the formation of Red and White Village/Sub-district Cooperatives (KDKMP), which is touted to become the driving force for the people’s economy at the grassroots level. Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs, Zulkifli Hasan, emphasised that KDKMP is designed to provide protection while improving the welfare of farmers and livestock breeders. This programme is also part of President Prabowo Subianto’s grand vision in building new economic growth centres in villages. According to Zulhas, the agricultural produce distribution chain has so far been too long, thus disadvantaging producers at the grassroots level. The presence of KDKMP is expected to cut that chain while becoming a direct buyer of community production results. Through this scheme, KDKMP will absorb villagers’ harvests and livestock products at more stable and competitive prices. Even when market prices are falling, the cooperative can still buy production results according to the reference price set by the government. This scheme is deemed capable of providing income certainty for actors in the agricultural sector.