InfoAWIT, JAKARTA - Every July 12th, National Cooperative Day always brings us back to the ideas bequeathed by our nation's founders. At the first Cooperative Congress in Tasikmalaya in 1947, cooperatives were positioned as the cornerstone of the national economy—not merely business entities, but tools for empowering the people to control their own economic lives. But nearly eight decades later, the question has resurfaced: are cooperatives truly growing as a people's force, or are they increasingly present as state projects?
This question became relevant when the government established the Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperative on a large scale. The state provided legal entities, financing, outlets, warehouses, and various facilities. Meanwhile, cooperatives that had long existed with their members were forced to survive on their own.
I view this issue not as an observer, but as a participant. The Belayan Sejahtera Plantation Cooperative has grown through a long journey: independently financing certification, improving plantation governance, establishing various business units, and navigating partnerships with companies that often fall short of the spirit of equal partnership. This experience has taught me one simple lesson: cooperatives are not born from instructions. They are born from need, grow through trust, and are strengthened by their ability to address the needs of their members.
Belayan Sejahtera was founded on June 10, 2002, in Muai Village, Kembang Janggut District, Kutai Kartanegara. Its inception followed economic changes along the Belayan River, from the timber industry and rubber plantations to the dominance of palm oil. This shift in commodities also transformed the way the community earns a living.
Palm oil does indeed open up new economic opportunities. However, at the same time, it also creates new dependencies. Farmers own the plantations, but they lack control over the mills, processing technology, pricing, or end markets. Production risks rest with the farmers, while the greatest added value is created when the fresh fruit bunches enter the mill and are processed into palm oil and its derivatives.
In such conditions, cooperatives become an instrument for strengthening bargaining power. Farmers who sell their produce individually are always in a weak position. Conversely, when production is pooled, administration is improved, information is mastered, and trade relationships are built collaboratively, the farmers' position begins to change.
Belayan Sejahtera's journey has evolved to meet the needs of its members. The cooperative continues to act as an intermediary for the sale of fresh fruit bunches. When farmers need fertilizer and production inputs, the cooperative builds a production input unit. When plantation roads become a problem, the cooperative provides heavy equipment. When vehicles require maintenance, a workshop and spare parts unit are built. As demands for sustainability increase, the cooperative develops internal control systems, mapping, data collection, governance, and certification.
The cooperative is now also developing financing, minimarkets, nurseries, and various other mutually supportive business units. The cooperative's profile document lists approximately 3,462 hectares of plantations managed by 1,129 farmers and supported by approximately 60 workers. Viewed individually, these appear to be business units. However, as a whole, they form an economic ecosystem connecting production, logistics, financing, and trade at the village level.
The cooperative's next step was to enter the RSPO certification process in 2022, involving 157 farmers covering approximately 578 hectares. In the next phase, that number increased to 331 farmers covering approximately 1,331 hectares. Certification is often viewed merely as a prerequisite for entering the global market. However, for cooperatives, the process is a way to build organizational capacity.
Through certification, cooperatives are required to master member data collection, plantation mapping, land legality, production traceability, environmental management, occupational safety, and internal monitoring systems. This allows cooperatives to gain control over knowledge that was previously largely held by companies and consultants.
Data control is truly economic control. Cooperatives with data can develop plans, evaluate productivity, identify risks, and strengthen their bargaining position. Therefore, the benefits of certification go beyond increased income. At Belayan Sejahtera, proceeds from RSPO credit sales are used to strengthen cooperative assets, purchase heavy equipment, build facilities, support education and health, improve infrastructure, and develop alternative livelihoods.
A similar approach is achieved through ISPO certification. The difference is that while RSPO arose from global market demands, ISPO is a national sustainability standard. However, all costs for audits, mapping, mentoring, document preparation, and strengthening internal control systems must be borne by the cooperative itself.
This is where the policy contradictions begin to emerge. The state requires farmers to meet sustainability standards, but the funding is almost entirely delegated to cooperatives. At the same time, the state allocates significant resources to establish new cooperatives that may not have active members, businesses, or markets.
In my opinion, that logic is backwards. If the government truly wants to strengthen cooperatives, priority should be given to those that have proven to be viable and beneficial to their members. Support can be provided through funding for ISPO certification, accelerating plantation legality, strengthening data systems, developing production infrastructure, and increasing productivity.
That experience made me view the Red and White Village Cooperative program with both optimism and caution. There's nothing wrong with the intention of strengthening the village economy. What needs to be criticized is the approach chosen.
The government builds institutions first, then hopes economic growth will follow. Yet, the history of Indonesian cooperatives shows that they grew out of community needs and were then strengthened by the state.
The experience of Village Unit Cooperatives (KUD) provides an important lesson. Many cooperatives survived while receiving government support. However, when that support ceased, some lost the ability to sustain their businesses. The reason wasn't simply weak management, but rather because cooperatives were initially formed to meet government programs, not the needs of their members.
A similar pattern could potentially be repeated in the Merah Putih Village Cooperative. Village meetings are held, but the community is never truly asked whether they need a new cooperative, whether existing cooperatives or Village-Owned Enterprises (BUM Desa) can be strengthened, or whether their primary concerns lie with market access, production routes, technology, financing, or price certainty.
In fact, as Mohammad Hatta reminded us, cooperatives are associations built on the solidarity and responsibility of their members. This awareness was never born through a decree.
Villages are not empty spaces. They already have established cooperatives, farmer groups, village-owned enterprises (BUMDes), stalls, traders, and even home businesses. If new cooperatives acquire substantial capital and facilities while established players remain independent, the resulting competition will hardly be considered fair. The state risks creating new, subsidized players to replace established economic players.
Therefore, the government should start by mapping community needs, strengthening existing institutions, and then establishing new cooperatives only when necessary. Cooperatives aren't built from buildings, but from trust, member participation, and truly vibrant economic activity.
Ultimately, cooperatives must be returned to their true nature. They are not state projects, nor are they tools for companies to collect supplies, nor are they owned by the management. Cooperatives are a tool for the people to strengthen their bargaining position and control their own economic lives. The state's task is not to replace that role, but rather to ensure that the people have the knowledge, protection, infrastructure, and opportunities to make cooperatives a true economic force. (*)
Author: Jamaluddin / Chairman of the Belayan Sejahtera Plantation Cooperative
Disclaimer: This article represents the author's opinion. All views, analysis, and conclusions are the author's responsibility and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of InfoSAWIT.
