Villages Encouraged to Become Engines of the Economy and National Food Security

Villages must become new centres of economic growth as well as the main pillars of national food security. With more than 75,000 villages in Indonesia, strengthening village economic capacity is the key to accelerating equitable development and improving public welfare. This message emerged during the 2026 National Working Meeting of the Merah Putih Indonesian Village Government Association (Apdesi) in Serang City, Banten, on Wednesday (10/6/2026). The meeting, themed ‘Merah Putih Synergy to Strengthen the Role of Villages in National Strategic Development’, was attended by thousands of village heads and Apdesi Merah Putih officials from various regions across Indonesia. Apdesi Merah Putih General Chairperson Anwar Sadat stated that villages can no longer be positioned merely as objects of development. Instead, villages must become the primary subjects capable of driving the national economy from the grassroots level, creating jobs, improving public welfare, and strengthening Indonesia’s food security. “Villages possess immense natural resources, human resources, and social capital. If all this potential is managed well through collaboration between the government, the business world, and the community, villages will become the locomotive of national economic growth and the fortress of Indonesia’s food security,” he said. According to Anwar, strengthening the village economy needs to be carried out through the development of the agricultural sector, animal husbandry, cooperatives, micro-enterprises, and various partnership models capable of increasing added value and the income of village communities. Therefore, the 2026 Apdesi Merah Putih National Working Meeting specifically discussed various strategic issues, ranging from village economic development, village investment and partnerships, digital transformation, strengthening village cooperatives, to national food security. The meeting received attention from the central government. Several state officials attended as speakers and honoured guests, including Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, Creative Economy Minister Teuku Riefky Harsya, Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions Yandri Susanto, Head of the National Narcotics Agency Commissioner General Suyudi Ario Seto, West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi, and Banten Governor Andra Soni. During the series of meetings, Apdesi Merah Putih inaugurated the Chairperson of the Jaringan Aspirasi Masyarakat (JAM) Foundation, Johan Aripin Muba, as the Chairperson of the Apdesi Merah Putih Expert Council. The inauguration was a form of appreciation for Johan’s contribution to driving village economic strengthening, community empowerment, and the development of village-based food security programmes. At the forum, Johan also received symbolic recognition in the form of the title ‘Father of the Village’ from the meeting participants. Johan stated that village progress is a crucial foundation for national progress. According to him, national development moves faster if villages are given greater space to manage and develop their potential. “If villages progress, Indonesia progresses. If villages are strong, the national economy will also be strong,” he said. Johan confirmed his party fully supports the village economic strengthening agenda promoted by Apdesi Merah Putih. He said village development must be followed by concrete programmes to create jobs, increase public income, and strengthen food security. “The JAM Foundation believes that the future of Indonesia’s economy is heavily determined by the progress of villages. Therefore, we support various programmes to strengthen village productivity, improve public welfare, and build economic independence based on local potential,” said Johan, who is known as a ‘crazy rich’ figure from Banten. As a form of concrete support, the JAM Foundation together with Apdesi Merah Putih is preparing a community poultry farming development programme reaching 75,266 villages. Each village is planned to have two productive coops with a total of 2,000 chickens as a source of community income as well as a support for food security. In addition, two producer cooperatives will be established in each village to manage the agriculture and animal husbandry sectors. One cooperative will be focused on rice and maize cultivation with support for planting costs, fertiliser, mentoring, and market access. According to Johan, the main challenge for farmers is not only production, but also buyer certainty and crop selling prices. Therefore, cooperatives and village digitalisation through the Jamstreet platform are prepared to strengthen business governance in a transparent and integrated manner.