Labour Minister: Agroforestry Training to Develop Village-Based Businesses
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Labour Minister Yassierli views agroforestry training as a key initiative to expand employment opportunities while promoting the development of businesses based on village potentials.
He added that the Ministry of Manpower has prepared integrated agroforestry training for 500 residents of Karamatwangi Village, Cisurupan Subdistrict, Garut Regency, West Java.
“This training is designed to be integrated from upstream to downstream, so that the community not only gains work skills but also business opportunities from the existing village potentials,” said Yassierli in his statement in Jakarta on Sunday.
The programme is directed at optimising the potential of the Karamatwangi Village area, which has a social forest zone of around 160 hectares, supported by a local business ecosystem and the village government’s commitment to community economic development.
The Labour Minister emphasised that this training is designed not only to enhance technical skills but also to open up sustainable business opportunities from the village’s potentials.
He explained that Karamatwangi Village was selected due to its strong agroforestry potential, supported by available land, local business actors, and the village government’s commitment to promoting community-based economic development.
The training will cover the agroforestry sector, from coffee cultivation, post-harvest processing, roasting, to barista skills. In addition, the Ministry of Manpower is also preparing horticulture training such as potato and chilli cultivation to strengthen the productive agricultural sector.
In the tourism sector, training is also provided through hospitality and tour guide materials to support the development of nature- and agriculture-based tourism in Garut Regency.
Yassierli hopes that this programme can turn Karamatwangi into a pilot village for agroforestry-based economic development that can create more employment opportunities for the community.
“From upstream to downstream, everything is integrated. The hope is that people who previously did not have jobs can get employment and business opportunities from the potentials in the village,” said the Labour Minister.
Previously, the Ministry of Manpower has conducted local potential-based training in stages for 64 participants in 2025–2026 in several villages in the Cisurupan area.
In 2025, training was held in Genengjaya Village through coffee cultivation and in Cipaganti Village through coffee bean roasting training. The programme continues in 2026 in Genengjaya Village, Karamatwangi Village, and Simpang Village, focusing on coffee cultivation, post-harvest processing, to roasting.