Become Main Speaker in IFAD International Forum, Mendes PDTT: Village Funds Becomes Inspiration to Overcome Poverty in Rural Areas

INDUSTRY.co.id - Italy - Village funding policies can be an inspiration to other countries in their efforts to overcome rural poverty. The policy implemented in Indonesia is the first program in the world that has resulted in significant development. This was conveyed by the Minister of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Mendes PDTT), Eko Putro Sandjojo, as the keynote speaker at the International Conference on "Rural Inequalities: Evaluating Approaches to Overcome Disparities" organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD ) in Rome, Italy, Tuesday (2/5).

"We have entered a new era of rural development in Indonesia. We do this by implementing the village fund policy. In the past four years, the state has allocated up to Rp 187 trillion to be distributed to villages, "said Minister Eko in the international conference.

Minister Eko added, as the largest country in Southeast Asia with a population of 260 million people and the largest archipelagic country, the agricultural sector is the main potential of Indonesia that can be maximized. The potential continued Eko Minister is located in rural areas. Therefore, the acceleration of rural development is a strategic step.

"Rural development has an important role in Indonesia's economic growth. More than 82% of the villagers work in the agricultural sector. The Village Fund is channeled to become leverage and maximize the agricultural potential, "he continued.

Until last year 2017, said Minister Eko, village funds channeled to more than 74 thousand villages have managed to build 123,145 kilometers of village roads, 5,220 village market units, 26,070 units of Village Owned Enterprises (BUMDes), 1,927 units of embungs, and 28,091 units irrigation. In addition, village funds have been used to build clean water facilities as many as 37,496 units, 5,314 units of Polindes, 18,072 PAUD units, 11,424 units of Posyandu, 108,484 units of MCK, 38,217 kilometers of drainage and 65,918 units of land retention.

"The village fund is a driver to support economic activities and improve the quality of life of rural communities. We continue to move to eradicate rural poverty with the policy, "said Minister Eko.

Minister Eko said that the village fund policy has succeeded in reducing the gap. Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) noted, in April 2018, the gini ratio in the village of 0.32, 0.4 in the city and 0.39 gini national ratio. This shows the development in the village to break down the gini ratio in Indonesia.

The IFAD conference was a forum for evaluating various approaches to rural poverty reduction. Four major aspects of the inequality indicator are discussions, namely access to resources, economic and environmental resilience, socio-cultural relations, and political rights. The conference was attended by high-ranking officials from the United Nations (UN), high-ranking officials from multilateral development funding donors, and various high-level leaders from international partners who specifically address development evaluations. In addition, representatives of bilateral and multilateral development organizations, humanitarian organizations, international academics, and research centers are also present.