Ministry Of Agriculture And Danantara Agree To Downstream Agriculture To Livestock Of IDR 371 Trillion

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman collaborated with Danantara Indonesia in the development of downstreaming in the agriculture, food, horticulture, plantations and livestock sectors, with an investment value of IDR 371 trillion.

Amran said the downstream project is currently in the pre-feasibility study (pre-FS) stage. He also estimates that it will be completed in the near future.

After the pre-FS is complete, continued Amran, the documents will be submitted to Danantara Indonesia for follow-up.

"The total plan is Rp371 trillion, we invest in the agricultural, food, livestock, horticulture, and plantation sectors. Later, the pre-FS will be completed in a short time, and submitted to the Minister of Investment, the Head of the Danantara," said a press conference, at the Ministry of Agriculture Office, Jakarta, Friday, November 7th.

Furthermore, Amran said the commodities that will be accelerated downstream are coconut, cocoa, mente, palm oil, to inner coconut.

"He (Rosan Roeslani) is the one who determines. But earlier we agreed on everything, in principle we have agreed, and we are accelerating," he explained.

For example, said Amran, downstreaming of coconut commodities is able to provide a very large added value for farmers. In fact, it can reach IDR 2,400 trillion.

"Well, we downstream this if according to the industrial tree diagram, it can be 100 times. What does that mean? It could be IDR 2,400 trillion, but in theory. It could be only 50 percent, 50 times, or 20 times," said Amran.

In North Maluku, Amran said, the price of coconut in the area had started to rise. Initially, it was priced at Rp600 per item, now why is it Rp3,500 per item.

"It increased by approximately 500 percent and we hope, the price should be at least Rp. 5,000 and could increase by 1,000 percent, it should be Rp. 6,000, which means 1,000 percent," he said.

In addition to prices, said Amran, downstreaming will also have a major impact on employment.

"Well, that's the profit in the future to be able to employ 1.4 million people on plantations, livestock and a total of approximately 3 million people in the future. Hopefully this 3-4 years will be finished," he said.