Indonesia vows ASEAN-wide push to boost food security through cooperatives

At a joint session of the Centre for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives and the ASEAN Sectoral Working Group on Agricultural Cooperatives in Yogyakarta, Deputy Cooperatives Minister Farida Farichah pledged that Indonesia will turn cooperative-focused ideas into concrete actions for ASEAN. She highlighted climate change as a shared threat to food security and argued that strengthening cooperative institutions is essential for achieving self-sufficiency.

Farichah described cooperatives as the sector that can connect producers with financing, technology, processing facilities and distribution networks. Citing examples from dairy and agricultural cooperatives across West, Central and East Java, she offered these as templates for other regional members. Indonesia, as the host, intends to disseminate best practices to help cooperatives become pillars of rural economies and regional food stability.