BPDP Ensures Support For Funding For Kakao Rejuvenation

Head of the General Division of the BPDP of the Ministry of Finance Adi Sucipto explained (rights) (Aris Nurjani / VOI)

The Ministry of Finance's Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP) affirms its full readiness to provide funding for the cocoa rejuvenation program, according to the mandate of Presidential Decree (Keppres) Number 132 of 2024.

Head of the General Division of BPDP Adi Sucipto explained that cocoa is now one of the three main commodities included in the national rejuvenation program, along with palm oil and coconut.

He added that this determination was made because cocoa production has continued to decline in recent years, even though this commodity has a significant contribution to state and economic revenues.

Adi said that Presidential Decree 132/2024 firmly assigned BPDP to support national cocoa rejuvenation. Currently, many cocoa production centers are located in East Java, Yogyakarta, Bali, and Central Sulawesi.

With this mandate, he said, BPDP's work coverage extends from previously only handling 21 provinces for palm oil commodities to 34 provinces, including DKI Jakarta through the Thousand Islands area as a coconut producing area.

He ensured that the cocoa program funding would follow the decision of the Steering Committee (Komrah) and the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan), even though the budget per hectare for cocoa had not yet been set.

"Whatever the allocation decided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Komrah, BPDP will be fully supported. For example, palm oil, the target of 30,000 increases to 60,000 hectares, we fully support it," he said on the agenda of the Kakao Contribution Media Working Visit for the National State Budget and the National Economy, quoted on Tuesday, November 25.

BPDP funding is national basketball because it comes from the APBN, so the small contribution of income from cocoa does not reduce BPDP's commitment to support.

"Although the income from cocoa is not as big as expected, as long as there is a contribution and it has been decided by the government, we still support the program," he said.

To note, until October 2025 state revenues from cocoa commodity Exit Customs reached IDR 150.7 billion.

Meanwhile, export levies that took effect on October 22 only collected Rp48.8 million.

Adi revealed that the national cocoa rejuvenation target that can be realized this year is 5,000 hectares.

The target of the Ministry of Agriculture which states that the figure of 175.000 hectares is probably a five-year target, not an annual target.

Our KPI is annual, it cannot be five years old. The target is 5,000 hectares this year based on the availability of seeds and regulatory readiness," he explained.

He added that the determination of the final area of land to be rejuvenated was in the hands of the Komrah and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that the total national cocoa plantations will reach 1.37 million hectares by 2024.

"Our target is the national target. Rejuvenation of cocoa more than 1 million hectares is a long-term target," he said.

Adi memaparkan bahwa terbatasnya target tahun ini disebabkan berbagai kendala teknis, seperti Peraturan Menteri Pertanian untuk program peremajaan yang belum rampung, petunjuk teknis terkait besaran bantuan per hektare yang belum terbit, serta persoalan legalitas lahan dan rendahnya minat petani untuk mengikuti program yang bersifat sukarela.

Sebagai perbandingan, program peremajaan kelapa sawit yang ditargetkan 120.000 hektare per tahun dalam praktiknya hanya mampu terealisasi sekitar 30.000 hektare karena menghadapi hambatan serupa.

Adi explained that the limited target this year was due to various technical problems, such as the Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture for the unfinished rejuvenation program, technical instructions related to the amount of assistance per hectare that had not been issued, as well as land legality issues and low interest of farmers to participate in voluntary programs.

In comparison, the oil palm rejuvenation program which is targeted at 120,000 hectares per year in practice is only able to be realized by around 30,000 hectares because it faces similar obstacles.