Farmer Welfare Increases, Minister Of National Development Planning Suharso Monoarfa Optimistic Of Reducing Extreme Poverty Levels To 0 Percent In 2023

JAKARTA - The government assesses that the welfare of farmers has increased. This is in accordance with the National Farmer's Exchange Rate (NTP) in January 2022, up 0.30 percent compared to December 2021, which is 108.67 from 108.34, based on monitoring of rural prices in 34 provinces in Indonesia.

"The Farmer's Exchange Rate is above the target and the Fishermen's Exchange Rate is also above the target. So in 2023 we have to increase productivity for an inclusive and sustainable economic transformation," said Minister of National Development Planning (PPN) / Head of Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa in a written statement that quoted by Antara, Thursday, February 17th.

He explained that priority policies in 2023 include accelerating the elimination of extreme poverty which can reach 0 to 1 percent. This means, continued Suharso, that by 2023 the government will reduce poverty from two and a half to three million people.

"On the other hand, the government is also focusing on improving the quality of human resources, health, recovering the business world, revitalizing industry and strengthening applied research in order to boost productivity. Therefore, the 2023 development will increase the Farmer's Exchange Rate between 103 to 105," he said.

The NTP figure is one of the indicators in determining the level of farmer welfare. In general, NTP describes the ratio between the price index received by farmers and the price index paid by farmers expressed as a percentage.

Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo said he was grateful that the value of NTP continued to experience a significant upward trend. He recalled that at the beginning of the pandemic, NTP was still below 100, but after that it shot up to 108.67.

“This means that there are positive changes to the welfare of farmers. The efforts we have made have had a positive impact on the agricultural sector in general," said Syahrul.