Zulhas Unveils Major Thematic Farming Village Programme, Rivaling the Red and White Village Cooperatives

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The government, through the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), is finalising the Thematic Aquaculture Villages programme, which aims to reach 40,000 villages by 2029. The programme is being prepared to strengthen food and protein self-sufficiency at village level while boosting national fisheries exports.

Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas) said the programme is a major undertaking no less important than the Red-and-White Village Cooperatives (KDMP). According to him, developing thematic aquaculture villages is one strategy to enable villages to meet their own food needs while driving the local economy.

“This is very big work too, no less than the Red-and-White Village Cooperatives, and it involves fundamental matters of how villages can be self-sufficient in protein and food carbohydrates and how their economies can grow,” Zulhas said when met at the KKP office after a coordination meeting with Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/7/2026).

Zulhas explained that the programme involves numerous ministries and agencies. The Ministry of Home Affairs will coordinate regional governments, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will prepare electricity support, the Ministry of Villages will assist with land provision, and various other ministries according to their respective duties.

He stressed that the Thematic Aquaculture Villages differ from the Red-and-White Fishing Villages Programme (KNMP), which is being built in coastal areas. The new programme instead targets villages in inland areas to develop fish farming.

“Not on the coast — these are villages, every village. On land, this is on land, different from [KNMP]. Land means land, so that we can be self-sufficient in fish and protein and become the greatest exporting power,” he said.

Zulhas believes integrated fish farming development will open up greater export opportunities. He cited demand for patin (catfish) in Saudi Arabia to serve Indonesian hajj pilgrims, which numbers around 200,000 people each year.

“We can’t do it, it’s not enough. We might manage to slaughter 10 tonnes of fish, because we have no aquaculture. If we had something like that, we could simply respond to what people demand — whatever fish they want, we just prepare the fry,” Zulhas said.

The fish commodities to be farmed will be diverse, although details of the species included in the programme are still being drawn up.

Separately, Director General of Aquaculture at the KKP, Tb. Haeru Rahayu, confirmed the budget for the Thematic Aquaculture Villages programme is available so implementation can begin soon. The KKP targets the programme to start running in August 2026.

The KKP is currently conducting intensive coordination with regional governments, village heads, the Ministry of Villages, and the Ministry of Home Affairs to prepare the programme’s implementation on the ground.

“It has now started in the field, it’s underway, coordination is happening. Starting means it begins from coordination until it is realised,” Haeru said.