Cooperative Entrepreneur, a Solution to Improve Farmers
Coffee Morning with Ir Luqman M Baga, MA. Ec., the Agribusiness Department of FEM, IPB
Siti Fatimah is one of the key figures in promoting the Village Unit Cooperative (KUD) ‘Sri Rejeki’ in Cilacap, Central Java. Starting from the love of managing the cooperative and seeing that KUD Sri Rejeki being almost in bankruptcy at that time, Siti was motivated to try to raise it again without any financial capital but only her love for the cooperative. She saw the great potential of Cilacap region, which has a vast banana plantation.
Her entrepreneur spirit came up and she applied the knowledge she got from the college. She did not tell farmers to sell the bananas as it is in traditional markets. However, her thought went far ahead to get much greater profit. She offered a banana in the form of porridge to a baby food company in Italy. As a result, they are interested. But there was one problem; Siti and farmers did not have the capital to meet the order. Finally, KUD Sri Rejeki with the baby food company had a negotiation, and it was agreed that the basic ingredients were made in the KUD with an initial investment of purchasing machinery bailed out by the company and KUD Sri Rejeki must repay the machine by installment.
Banana price of KUD Sri Rejeki is much higher compared with that of the local market because she offers it in the U.S. dollar. KUD Sri Rejeki obtains raw materials of bananas more easily because KUD offers high prices to farmers. In this way, such raw material would come by itself. Not only that, the KUD also works with other regions to meet the supply. Not only from West Java are the raw materials supplied, but also from Lampung.
This is one of the true stories of one of those who develop agriculture in the ways of cooperative entrepreneurs. There are many other real stories about the concept of agricultural development through such a smart idea, for example, the development of Depok star fruit by Haji Rimin Sumantri through the Center for Fruit Processing and Marketing Cooperatives, and Salak Pondoh of Sleman in Yogyakarta by Surya Agung Saputra, ST.
"The concept has been widely practiced, with the rise of the cooperative movement in various countries. The function of wirakoperasi is just as the locomotive that determines the direction and pace of the cooperative movement," said the agribusiness expert from the Agribusiness Department of FEM IPB, Ir Luqman M Baga, MA.Ec, in Coffee Morning (23/12) held by IPB Public Relations, with the theme "Strengthening Sustainability of Indonesia."
Ir. Lukman said the cooperative entreupreneur, or it could be called wirakoperasi, is a special form of entrepreneurship concept. Basically it is the development of farmer organizations with the farmers to develop the existing potential
"Not every entrepreneur is a wirakoperasi, but every wirakoperasi is an entrepreneur. No need of capital, labor and land, because it will move by itself. The problem with this concept is that such skill still comes up naturally, that is, as a personal initiative rather than by design," he said. (mtd)
