Red and White Cooperative: President Prabowo’s Efforts to Empower Village Communities
By: Adnan Ramdani
The Red and White Village Cooperative is a tangible symbol of President Prabowo Subianto’s vision of building economic independence for village communities in an inclusive, sustainable, and mutually cooperative manner. By using the cooperative approach as the primary instrument of empowerment, the government demonstrates a strong commitment to transforming rural Indonesia into a center of national economic strength. The Red and White Village Cooperative exists not merely as a people’s economic institution, but as a vehicle for social transformation that promotes equitable prosperity, reduces inequality, and creates jobs at the grassroots level. This is part of President Prabowo’s grand strategy to make villages the vanguard of national development.
By adopting the name “Red and White,” this cooperative embodies the spirit of nationalism and unity in building economic strength that comes from the people and for the people. Under President Prabowo’s direction, the Red and White Village Cooperative is empowered as a collective platform that facilitates farmers, fishermen, livestock breeders, and village MSMEs in accessing capital, training, and product marketing. This strategy aligns with the President’s mission to create a people-oriented economic system that not only benefits large investors but also considers those who have previously been excluded from formal economic access.
Minister of Cooperatives (Menkop), Budi Arie Setiadi, stated that the Red and White Village Cooperative is a crucial instrument in championing the economic independence of rural communities. Furthermore, cooperatives at the village level must be a driving force for community productivity, optimally utilizing the potential of local resources without neglecting local wisdom.
Village development is a key focus of President Prabowo’s administration. President Prabowo recognizes that Indonesia’s true economic strength lies in villages, where more than half of the Indonesian population resides. By empowering cooperatives as the heart of the village economy, a strong, independent, and competitive local economic ecosystem will be created. The Red and White Village Cooperative is designed not only to fulfill the conventional functions of a cooperative but also to serve as a center for innovation and training, where villagers can improve their production skills, business management, and financial literacy.
This step also demonstrates President Prabowo’s transformative leadership, which prioritizes support for the common people. The Red and White Village Cooperative also provides easier and cheaper access to capital compared to commercial loan schemes. By partnering with national financial institutions, state-owned enterprises, and strategic investors, the government has created an inclusive financing scheme that is not burdensome but still encourages productivity. This addresses a classic problem faced by rural economic actors: limited access to viable and sustainable business capital.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan stated that the Red and White Village Cooperative program is not a cash-out project. This program is a village economic empowerment initiative initiated by President Prabowo and targeted to reach 80,000 villages across Indonesia.
Furthermore, the Red and White Village Cooperative also functions as a distribution hub for village products to wider markets, both domestic and for export. Through digitalization and the use of technology, this cooperative is connected to modern marketing platforms, enabling local products previously consumed only at the village level to have higher added value and increased competitiveness. President Prabowo aims to demonstrate that village products can penetrate the global market, provided they are provided with adequate support and an ecosystem.
The Red and White Village Cooperative also encourages collaboration between the village’s younger generation and traditional business owners. By instilling a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation from an early age, this cooperative serves as a shared learning space that inspires optimism and new hope for village youth to rebuild their hometowns. This also addresses the challenges of excessive urbanization and underemployment, which have long been a problem in many rural areas.
President Prabowo’s efforts to establish and strengthen the Merah Putih Village Cooperative have also received a positive response from many groups. Village heads, community leaders, and academics have viewed this step as a tangible manifestation of the state’s commitment to the people’s economy. The government acts not only as a regulator but also as a facilitator and accelerator of village economic development. In fact, this concept is considered a model of inclusive development that can be replicated across Indonesia.
