Red And White Kopdes Distributes Food Aid To Eastern Indonesia

Head of Badanas Arief Prasetyo Adi accompanied Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan to review the Red and White Cooperative in East Penfui, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Friday, August 1. (Photo: Communication and Publication Service Bureau of Badanas)

JAKARTA - The Red and White Villages Cooperative is now officially one of the main channels for the distribution of various prorakyat programs, including national food programs.

One of them is the distribution of rice The Food Supply and Price Stabilization Program (SPHP) and rice food assistance has been realized through the cooperative network.

Head of Badanas Arief Prasetyo Adi said this step was in line with President Prabowo Subianto's directives for the Red and White Village Cooperative to be real in the community, reach wider, and accelerate government program services.

He made this statement while reviewing the Red and White Cooperative in East Penfui, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Friday, August 1. "According to President Prabowo's commitment that the Red and White Village Cooperative must be able to run and be able to help the community. This is what the government continues to do," said Arief in his official statement.

Arief added that his party together with the Coordinating Minister for Food ensured that the distribution of SPHP rice and food assistance had reached eastern Indonesia, including NTT.

"Earlier, the Coordinating Minister for Food ensured that SPHP rice was available until East Indonesia. Rice food assistance was the same. The recipient community could take rice food assistance at the Kopdes as well. That way, Kopdes is expected to be the center of the prorakyat program which can then leverage the people's economy as well as the direction of the Coordinating Minister for Food here," he said.

As of August 1, the realization of the distribution of rice food aid has reached 12,502,201 people or the equivalent of 68.4 percent of the total target of 18.2 million recipients.

Meanwhile, the distribution of SPHP rice has reached 188,400 tons (12.56 percent) of the national target of 1.5 million tons, including 53.72 tons distributed through the Red and White Kopdes. Badanas will also expand the distribution of SPHP to modern retailers and networked minimarkets, without involving wholesale.

"We encourage Bulog to accelerate the distribution of SPHP rice, but not wholesale, because there is a maximum limitation of 2 sacks per purchase. If access to modern market is actually not only for people who are middle to upper class, especially for minimarkets networked. In our opinion, it can be accessed by all groups. The outlet network is also very wide," said Arief.