Menkop: Red And White Cooperatives Will Supply Free Nutrition Eating Programs

Menkop Budi Arie (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives (Menkop) Budi Arie said the Red and White Village Cooperative (Kopdes) which is currently being discussed for its formation will later supply for a free nutritious food program (MBG).

Furthermore, Budi said the government would build 80,000 Red and White Kopdes spread throughout Indonesia. The construction of the cooperative is in line with the issuance of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 9 of 2025.

The Presidential Instruction is about the Acceleration of the Establishment of the Red and White Village Cooperative and the Draft Decision of the President of the Red and White Village Cooperative Formation Task Force.

"In the Presidential Instruction, the supplier of MBG is the Red and White Kopdes," he said at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Food, Jakarta, Thursday, April 10.

Budi said that the administrative process for the institutional establishment of the Red and White Kopdes agency continues to be accelerated. The target, will be completed by the end of June 2025.

"By the end of June, the formation must have been completed. The formation means that the institution, not yet a building or physical one. So the target at the end of June as soon as possible, all 80,000 red and white Kopdes formations have been formed throughout Indonesia," said Budi Arie.

In addition, he said the Ministry of Cooperatives is also in the process of conducting simulations and drafting implementation instructions (juklak) and technical instructions (juknis) for the realization of the Red and White Kopdes.

Currently, continued Budi, there are already 32,000 villages that already have cooperatives and there are around 52,000 villages that do not have cooperatives. He also said the study was being carried out for possible transformations and existing cooperatives.

"There are 32,000 villages that already have co-operations that we can see if it might be transformed. So later we will see the decision later we will consolidate," he said.

In addition, Budi said the construction of 80,000 Red and White Village Cooperatives (Kopdes) needed funds of at least IDR 400 trillion.

Furthermore, Budi said the construction of a unit of the Red and White Kopdes needed funds of at least Rp. 5 billion.

"Yes, for example, 80,000, times 5 billion is IDR 400 trillion," he said.

Regarding the cooperative financing, Budi Arie said that it would be fully submitted to the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, and SOE Minister Erick Thohir.

"It's been discussed, the figure is around Rp. 5 billion per Kopdes. Later the scheme will be business, right, I've already said that asking the figures like this, you have to ask the Minister of Finance and the Minister of SOEs," he said.