FEM Holds International Seminar on Agricultural Economics Friday, November 28, 2014
Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM) of IPB in cooperation with NIECH-Agribusiness and ISSAAS Indonesia held an International Seminar on Agricultural Finance For Rural Development and Sustainability, 20/11 at IICC by inviting agricultural economists inside and outside the country such as Prof. Meine Pieter Van Dijk (NICHE), Dr. Ian Mc Donald (Lincold University, New Zealand) and Prof. Dr. Herman Siregar (IPB).
IPB Rector, Prof. Herry Suhardiyanto, when opening the seminar, said that financing of agriculture Indonesia is still of great problem, mainly related to collateral issues that can not be provided by farmers. A breakthrough needed to solve this problem includes the establishment of Agricultural Banks. "To protect the farmers from production risks such as crop failure, the legal efforts and empowerment of farmers explicitly instruct both central and local governments to implement agricultural insurance. The government should allocate a budget for operation and premium payments. Because of the small land holdings and
high inequality in land ownership in some areas, the development of agricultural insurance requires some innovation, such as what is the most appropriate model for Indonesian agricultural conditions," Rector said.
In order to support the achievement of self-sufficiency and food sovereignty, according to Rector, protection, empowerment and agricultural financing are needed to provide market assurance and protect farmers from high price fluctuations and crop failure. Farmers still often suffer from high prices on planting, but eventually they accept low prices on selling products. In addition to providing market facilities such as an agribusiness terminal, the government can subsidize the price of the products supplied by farmers. Rector hopes this seminar will document many initiatives, concepts or proposals to support the agricultural development in Indonesia.
Dean of FEM IPB, Dr. Yusman Syaukat said, "Currently, the funding for agricultural businesses is still low, but more funding goes to non- agriculture businesses. This seminar is expected to solve the financing problem of Indonesian agriculture," he explained. In this event there was also launching of a new institution in IPB named "International Trade Analysis Policy Unit” chaired by Prof. Rina Octaviani (FEM-IPB). (Mtd)
