President Jokowi's Advice For Farmers And Ranchers To Be More Prosperous

President Jokowi/Photo: Antara

BOGOR - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) encouraged farmers and ranchers to enter the off-farm or post-harvest sector to enjoy the added value of the agricultural sector.

"Farmers and breeders groups, farmer and breeder cooperatives, must also go into off farms, go downstream. Once again, the added value is enjoyed by farmers because the biggest profit is on the off-farm, and of course, it can create jobs. There are more and more new ones", said President Jokowi at the Inauguration of the ICMI Central Executive Council and the inauguration of the online ICMI National Working Meeting from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Saturday, January 29.

According to him, by moving farmers in the post-harvest sector, farmers can also enjoy the results of the downstream activities of agricultural commodities. This is also part of the natural resource downstream program which is part of Indonesia's structural transformation.

“We have to do this downstream in all sectors. Farmers must be strong in on farm (cultivation), innovation in agriculture and animal husbandry must be strong, but don't stop there", said President Jokowi.

President Jokowi emphasized that downstream should be implemented in every sector that utilizes Indonesia's natural wealth.

In the mining sector, the President re-emphasized his commitment to gradually stop the export of raw materials in the next few years, namely for bauxite, copper, tin, and gold. Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 11 of 2019. Since several years earlier, the government has also aggressively implemented a nickel downstream program.

"Not only a nickel, but I also stopped. This year we may stop bauxite, next year copper, next year tin, next year gold, there is no such thing as exporting raw materials", he said.

Therefore, one of the nickel derivative products, namely steel, can generate exports of up to 20.9 billion US dollars, a significant increase compared to 2014 which was 1.1 billion US dollars.

"In 2022, I think we can achieve nickel-specific exports, which can reach 28 to 30 billion US dollars, which means it is around IDR 420 trillion, that's an estimate", said President Jokowi. digital economic transformation, energy transition, and the development of the State Capital (IKN) on the island of Kalimantan.