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Poor farmers from NTT get income boost through govt partnership
The East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province, ranked the third poorest region in Indonesia, will be the subject of a government partnership program with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
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he East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province, ranked the third poorest region in Indonesia, will be the subject of a government partnership program with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration has signed a partnership agreement with the two institutions on Friday in its attempt to improve the livelihood and income of 10,000 poor farmers living in the area by increasing labor productivity and enhancing employment opportunities.
'The funds given by the institutions will be used to finance the program in four districts of NTT, especially in the production of its key agro-food value chains such as maize, seaweed and cattle,' said Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Marwan Jafar at the FAO office in Jakarta on Friday.
The four districts Marwan referred to were Belu, Kupang, East Sumba and Timor Tengah Selatan.
The FAO Representative in Indonesia, Mark Smulders, said the program aimed to empower NTT farmers and lift them out of poverty to have a decent income.
'We want to help farmers so they are not exploited, and so they can play a strong role in the market. We want them to produce more food and to know that they can get a good price by the added value from the processing of the food,' Mark said.
The joint program will require a budget of US$21.7 million.
So far the ILO has raised $500,000 for the program, while the FAO has raised $350,000. The government has also stated their commitment to fund half of the total budget.
Some of the programs include education and establishment of machinery for the processing of seaweed to be used as pudding in order to give added value to the food.
Data at the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in March 2014 showed that of the 28 million people living under the poverty line, most are farmers. (fsu)(++++)
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