KBRN, Jakarta: In a major push to leverage the agriculture sector as a primary engine for poverty eradication, the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture and the Acceleration Agency for Poverty Eradication (BP Taskin) have formalized a strategic partnership.

The collaboration, sealed with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, aims to utilize the vast potential of farming and rural empowerment to sustainably reduce poverty rates and boost farmers' welfare across the nation.

“Achieving food self-sufficiency is not just about meeting national needs. It’s also about uplifting dignity by empowering communities to move from poverty toward independence,” Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said after the signing of the MoU in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted be antaranews.com.

Minister Amran, who also serves as Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas), underscored that cross-sector collaboration is the key to the success of this program. He emphasized that anti-poverty efforts must move beyond bureaucratic planning to address the root causes on the ground.

Minister Amran cited a successful example where a targeted, "by name by address" approach in agriculture, focusing interventions on specific poor individuals, managed to slash the poverty rate in one district from 38 percent to a mere 8 percent within one to two years.

This method involves directly identifying impoverished residents and providing tailored assistance. For those with land, support includes machinery and planting aid. For those with limited space, a starting pack of 50 chickens is provided.

"In two years, they can move beyond the poverty line," Minister Amran affirmed.

Given that the agriculture sector involves 160 million people and supports 70 percent of Indonesia's population, Minister Amran highlighted its immense potential to enhance economic independence.

He also noted that the increase in the government purchasing price (HPP) for unhusked rice to IDR 6,500 (USD 0.39) per kilogram, along with improved access to fertilizer facilitated by President Prabowo Subianto, has significantly boosted farmers’ incomes across various regions.

“Our Farmer’s Terms of Trade Index now stands at 124, well above the Ministry of Finance’s target of 110,” Minister Amran explained.

The collaborative program between the Ministry of Agriculture and BP Taskin will launch with a pilot project in 10 regencies identified as having relatively high poverty rates, yet led by local administrations deemed proactive and strongly committed to change.

Rather than simply providing aid, the initiative aims to drive local economic transformation by harnessing the potential of community-based agriculture. This includes boosting productivity, supplying farming tools and machinery, and empowering low-income households through livestock and small-scale enterprises.

Under an agglomeration model, Minister Amran explained, each target regency will serve as a hub for four neighboring regencies, ensuring that the intervention generates not only local impact but also broader regional economic resonance.

This approach is expected to accelerate measurable poverty reduction and serve as a model for inclusive development in other regions across Indonesia.

Head of BP Taskin, Budiman Sudjatmiko, hailed the collaboration as a concrete example of inter-agency synergy directly benefiting the poor.

Budiman confirmed that the MoU would be immediately followed up with coordination meetings between BP Taskin Deputies and three Directorate Generals at the Agriculture Ministry to ensure data accuracy and targeted interventions.

"We are mapping pockets of poverty 'by name by address' in the 10 regencies this year and will link that data to the Ministry's programs in the sub-sectors of livestock, food crops, plantations, and horticulture," Budiman said. ***