Australia Donates to 4 Provinces
VIVAnews - The Australian government through AusAID launched a pilot program for small farmers in four Indonesian provinces like South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara.
Australia has donated a total of AUS$38 million in the past four years to improve agricultural productivity and quality in 24 subdistricts in the four provinces.
The pilot project involving around 900,000 small farmers is a partnership between Indonesia and the Australian government concerning the Mandiri National Program of People Empowerment (PNPM).
Program Director of Smallholder Agribusiness Development Initiative, Jacqueline L Pomeroy, said the annual pilot project started to disburse fund in December 2008. "This was only the first cycle. The previous two years were focused on preparing and planning [the program]," Pomeroy said on Friday, March 6.
Every subdistrict included in the pilot project will acquire donation of around Rp 1.1 billion (US$91,292) which was channeled through PNPM. "The project is aimed at improving the productivity and quality of small agricultural businesses," Pomeroy said.
The implementation of the program, said Pomeroy, was quite open. Each business group may cultivate various agricultural products. However, there were several potential main agricultural commodities such as cacao, corn, cow breeding, sea weed, coffee, peanut and cashew nut. "Basically, it is aimed at boosting farmers' capacity as well as their production, which will affect farmers' income and well-being," she said.
--
Translated by: Bonardo Maulana Wahono
Kejuaraan Golf Internasional, Pj Gubernur Sumut Optimis Jadi Ajang Pembinaan Atlet
Kejuaraan North Sumatera Amateur Open (NSAO) 2024, kembali digelar oleh Persatuan Golf Indonesia (PGI) Sumut. Peserta berasal dari Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Filipina,
