Yogyakarta Operates Red and White Cooperatives Without Physical Stores

The Yogyakarta City Government stated that dozens of Red and White Cooperatives in its area have been operating and actively running various business units even though none of them have physical buildings. Since the policy was initiated by President Prabowo Subianto, the Yogyakarta City Government has not been able to provide land for the requirement of building a physical cooperative store which stipulates a minimum land area of 600 square meters.

“The City of Yogyakarta continues to carry out KKMP (Village Red and White Cooperative) activities even though it does not have a physical store due to limited land that meets the requirements for its infrastructure,” said the Mayor of Yogyakarta, Hasto Wardoyo, during the inauguration of the simultaneous operation of 1,061 Red and White Cooperatives with President Prabowo online, Saturday, May 16, 2026.

Hasto explained that the City of Yogyakarta currently has a number of active Red and White Cooperative units, one of which focuses on commercial batik printing called Yogya Segoro Amarto Reborn. The business, centered in Gunungketur Village, Pakualaman District, is allocated to supply uniforms for Civil Servants (ASN) in the local government environment.

“From this effort, they have successfully served 6,500 ASN with Segoro Amarto batik uniforms. All of them were produced by the Red and White Cooperative,” said Hasto.

Hasto explained the conditions a year ago, where Yogyakarta City, as a UNESCO-recognized world batik city, still lacked batik craftsmen who could fulfill large-scale uniform orders in a short time.

The Yogyakarta City Government is targeting to strengthen this industrial ecosystem sustainably by encouraging one cooperative to act as the main collector of products from other village cooperatives. The goal is to be able to supply quality batik fabric for local residents and tourists.

“Currently, the Red and White Cooperative in Yogyakarta City is preparing for the second phase of batik production for school children, which amounts to 65,000 pieces,” said Hasto. “I think as a batik city designated by UNESCO, we want to realize the ability of the Red and White Cooperative to revitalize MSMEs and batik craftsmen in Yogyakarta City.”

However, Hasto said that to support the existence of long-term physical facilities, the Yogyakarta City Government is still preparing land for cooperative physical stores. Especially after the Yogyakarta City Government received a written permit or land use rights from the Yogyakarta Palace.

The Yogyakarta Palace will provide an area of approximately 3,000 square meters in the Umbulharjo District. The area will later be divided into three strategic zoning areas, each measuring 1,000 square meters.

The first stage of land will be fully utilized as a center for building the main infrastructure of village cooperative physical stores. The second area will be developed into a catfish cultivation center with a biofloc system. While the remaining 1,000 square meters of land will be used for an integrated farming program that focuses on processing organic waste into ready-to-use fertilizer products.

“We want to make fertilizer that can also be sold. This also solves the waste problem, because waste becomes fertilizer,” he said.

The Head of the Yogyakarta City Industry, Cooperatives and SME Office, Tri Karyadi Riyanto, explained the map of the spread of Red and White Cooperative activities at the grassroots level. Based on data from the office, out of a total of 45 villages in Yogyakarta City, as many as 32 villages have operated cooperatives actively by utilizing private land owned by the administrators.

The business units launched also vary according to local characteristics. Starting from creative industries for batik, providing staple food commodities, to providing financial services without offices within the framework of Inclusive Finance (Laku Pandai).

In addition, several village cooperatives have also established partnerships with hotel networks and Dental Service Fulfillment Units (SPPG) to support the smooth operation of the Free Nutritious Meal program.

“For KKMP in Gunungketur, it adapts to its potential as a batik center. We encourage KKMP to have activities based on local potential,” he said. The hope is that with this cooperative, batik craftsmen will not work alone, managing their raw materials and marketing them through the cooperative.

The Chairman of the Gunungketur KKMP, Reza Murtaza, explained that his group has completed the production of 650 pieces of Segoro Amarto batik fabric for the needs of ASN in the Yogyakarta City Hall. He said he continues to maintain a regular production rhythm of 40 pieces of fabric per session to meet periodic stock.

“The production of this cooperative’s batik is to serve additional requests from ASN and educators, starting from kindergarten teachers to junior high school teachers in Yogyakarta City who have not received new uniforms,” he said.

Reza said that batik production is more active because there are government instructions for uniform needs. “With the existence of this cooperative, management becomes easier, and batik craftsmen continue to produce,” he said.