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| Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman explains the agricultural downstreaming program at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. |
The Indonesian government continues to strengthen its agricultural downstreaming agenda as a strategic step to boost product added value, create new jobs, and accelerate equitable welfare distribution. This commitment was conveyed by Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman after attending a limited meeting led by President Prabowo Subianto at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday, October 9, 2025.
Amran explained that the main goal of downstreaming is to ensure that all added value from agricultural products stays within Indonesia. “The added value must remain in Indonesia. If we keep doing this consistently, it will create more jobs, reduce poverty, improve welfare, and cut unemployment,” Amran said in his statement.
According to him, the economic potential from coconut downstreaming is enormous. The government is now pushing to process coconut-based products such as coconut milk and Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) domestically. “If processed into VCO, the price can increase by up to 100 times. If we take an average estimate, it could generate IDR 2,400 trillion. Even if we only take half of that, say fifty times, it still gives IDR 1,200 trillion in foreign exchange. And that’s just from coconuts,” Amran explained.
In addition to coconuts, the government is also preparing downstream programs for gambier, a commodity in which Indonesia supplies about 80 percent of the global demand. Its derivative products can be used for election ink and household materials. By processing gambier domestically, Indonesia is expected to significantly raise its market value.
A similar effort is being applied to palm oil, one of Indonesia’s major export commodities. Amran said that fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from oil palm will be processed into products such as biofuel, cooking oil, margarine, and butter. “We are now accelerating the downstreaming of cocoa, cashew, coconut, pepper, and other commodities. Especially for coconuts, this is quite interesting. You can see the data: 33 million tons this year compared to only 29 million tons last year,” he added.
Apart from boosting downstreaming efforts, the government is also optimizing a budget of IDR 9.95 trillion to support plantation and horticultural development programs. The funding will be directed toward strengthening agricultural supply chains, from seed distribution to post-harvest processing.
“We will provide seeds and seedlings to all farmers across Indonesia. Cocoa, coffee, coconut, cashew, and nutmeg — around 800 thousand hectares nationwide — and all for free. This program will open up 1.6 million new jobs within the next two years,” Amran concluded.
Through this downstreaming initiative, the government hopes the agricultural sector will not only serve as a raw material supplier but also become a key driver of the national economy. By adding value to agricultural products within the country, Indonesia can reduce its dependence on raw exports while expanding employment opportunities in the processing sector.
If implemented consistently, agricultural downstreaming could become a major milestone in Indonesia’s economic transformation. Farmers will no longer rely solely on selling raw crops but will also benefit from processed products. As a result, rural welfare is expected to improve, supporting a more equitable economy across the nation.