Minister urges village assistance to focus on economic empowerment

The Minister of Villages and Disadvantaged Regions, Yandri Susanto, is pushing for village development programmes to move beyond mere aid distribution, directing efforts instead towards strengthening community economic empowerment.

According to Minister Yandri, as reported in Jakarta on Friday, every programme implemented must provide sustainable benefits and be capable of driving productivity and village economic potential.

“Current programmes must focus on economic empowerment, so that aid does not simply vanish after a single instance of assistance. For example, a road can support food security or enhance production—such as creating thematic villages for melons, eggs, and so on,” said the Minister.

This was conveyed by Minister Yandri during an audience with the Regent of West Aceh, Tarmizi, at the Minister’s office in Jakarta on Thursday (3/9).

During the meeting, Minister Yandri emphasised the importance of optimising village potential to support food security needs, including the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme.

“The ingredients for the MBG programme should ideally come from the villages. Therefore, villages must become egg-producing villages, chilli-producing villages, or thematic villages in essence. Ideally, one area would focus on one type of thematic village. This can be managed through BUMDesma (Village-Owned Enterprises), allowing for mutual assistance within a single region,” said Minister Yandri.

He added that the development of these thematic villages is expected to build an economic supply chain from upstream to downstream, involving the local community as the primary actors.

According to him, through the strengthening of inter-village cooperation and BUMDesma, village production potential can be consolidated. This would allow for the growth of larger economies of scale and broader market access to support the sustainability of village community businesses.