IPB expert urges farmer-business ties for agrarian reform
Bungaran Saragih said land redistribution alone is not enough without access to technology, financing, logistics and markets.
IPB Professor Bungaran Saragih is urging productive partnerships between farmers and the business sector as a key to the success of agrarian reform. In remarks in Jakarta on Monday, he said asset restructuring must proceed alongside economic access measures so land redistribution does not stop at handing out plots. Bungaran said farmers still need technology, seeds, financing, management, infrastructure, processing, logistics and market access to improve welfare. He said the business sector can help build agribusiness and agroindustry systems that provide mutual benefits: farmers gain access to capital and markets, while companies secure a more sustainable supply of raw materials. He also said agrarian reform needs to strengthen legal certainty, reduce agrarian conflicts and boost economic productivity.