Government Involves Community in Establishing Red and White Cooperative to Build Rural Areas
By: Naura Astika
Indonesia’s development from village to city is not just a slogan. The government is increasingly aware that the nation’s economic strength does not only rely on industrial centers in big cities, but rather lies in the villages that are the foundation of the social and economic structure of society. Through the Red and White Village Cooperative initiative, the government is trying to revitalize the role of villages as centers of inclusive and equitable economic growth. This strategy is not only about infrastructure development, but also about empowering communities to become the main actors in the economy through a modern cooperative approach.
The Red and White Village Cooperative is designed as a strategic vehicle to build the economic sovereignty of the people from rural areas. Tito Sulistio, a member of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Supervisory Board for the 2023–2028 period, emphasized the importance of cooperatives not only being a place for savings and loans, but also moving up to become the main actors in the national production and distribution supply chain, even exports. This means that these cooperatives must be able to manage local production, process the results, and penetrate wider markets, both domestically and globally.
Village communities are no longer viewed as mere recipients of aid, but as the main actors in development. This approach is seen in the stages of cooperative formation, where residents are involved from the planning stage, identification of local potential, to the preparation of cooperative business plans.
Through village deliberations, training, and technical assistance, communities are given space to determine the form of cooperative that suits the needs and potential of each region. This allows for flexibility in the cooperative business model in coastal areas, focusing on processing marine products, while in mountainous areas it can concentrate on coffee, horticultural farming, or local crafts.
Ahmad Zabadi, Head of the Task Force and Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperatives, said that one important aspect of concern is the quality of human resources (HR) who will manage the cooperative. Without professional management and transparent management, cooperatives are prone to failure and become mere formalities. Therefore, the government ensures that there is training, certification of cooperative managers, as well as internship and business incubation programs. The goal is that these cooperatives are not only able to survive, but also grow sustainably and independently.
Furthermore, this cooperative is also expected to be the answer to various socio-economic problems in the village, such as people’s dependence on high-interest loans from loan sharks or illegal online loans. With a strong and trusted cooperative, people have access to fairer and less burdensome financing. In addition, cooperatives can also be distribution centers for basic necessities, village asset management, and even basic service providers such as community-based education and health.
Turino Yulianto, a youth cooperative figure, said that the Red and White Cooperative is an effort to shift the national economic structure from oligarchic dominance to a people’s economy based on equality. With cooperatives as a forum for economic democracy, villages no longer depend on helping hands, but become productive and independent economic entities.
Real examples of this initiative are beginning to be seen in various regions. In several villages in West Java and Central Java, cooperatives have begun to operate with a focus on local superior products such as organic agricultural processing, local food industries, and handicraft production that is marketed online. Cooperatives not only create new jobs, but also encourage the return of village youth who previously migrated to the city because there were no opportunities in their hometowns.
This cooperative is expected to reduce the community’s dependence on high-interest loans such as online loans and loan sharks. With the existence of quality human resources, it is hoped that the cooperative can be managed well and prevent members from losses.
In the long term, the existence of the Red and White Village Cooperative is expected to strengthen the village middle class – a group of people who have purchasing power, access to education, and the ability to invest in their own area. This is important because a strong village middle class will be the locomotive of regional economic growth. Cooperatives are not only economic instruments, but also centers of social regeneration, a place where innovation, solidarity, and entrepreneurial spirit are born.
