Go Digital, Indonesian Agricultural Small Businesses Urged

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs is encouraging SMEs in the agriculture sector to go digital to weather the coronavirus pandemic.

“By turning to digitalization, Indonesian SMEs in the agriculture sector can expand their market reach. Where previously they conducted offline transactions, now they are able to switch to digital platforms,” said Dewi Syarlen, Deputy Assistant of Agriculture and Plantations at the ministry.

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“In the digital era, they can utilize big data which farmers can use to make decisions on their transactions,” said Dewi.

Big data can assist farmers to determine what opportunities are available, Dewi added. It also enables farmers to assess what trends are happening in the Indonesian market.

These are meant to generate interest among Indonesian SMEs in the agriculture sector to consider online sales platforms.

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“They know the current trends so they automatically know what the market needs. This can boost the interest of farmers to turn to online sales,” said Dewi.

Online opportunities

Ekosis.id’s Chief Marketing Officer Ranggi Muharam said there are currently 4,501,415 farmers and fishermen in Indonesia who have access to the online world.

However, there are 28,986,391 Indonesian farmers and fishermen who remain without access to the digital sphere.

This comes amid ongoing government projects to establish internet access for citizens in the western and eastern parts of Indonesia.

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“This should be an opportunity for us to use the internet especially nowadays with so many platforms that can assist farmers and fishermen to go digital,” said Ranggi.

Such platforms that Indonesian farmers and fishermen can use are ekosis.id which offers various advantages and benefits for the agribusiness industry.

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Ekosis.id is also available as an Android app and can be downloaded on the Google Play Store.

“The benefit [of ekosis.id] for the agribusiness industry is that they will conduct transactions directly with the farmer or fisherman. The industry can also save money on the purchase of raw materials as well as obtaining quality products. Since the payments are all digital, they will know the details of their transactions,” said Ranggi.

Ranggi said the ekosis.id platform works with several partners in the agriculture sector.

Among the commodities offered are organic rice and ginger. Its plantation partners offer commodities such as coffee, chocolate, coconut, nuts, pineapples, and more. 

(Writer: Elsa Catriana | Editor: Bambang P. Jatmiko) 

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2020/07/07/153755026/kemenkop-ukm-dorong-umkm-pertanian-untuk-go-digital