OJK, govt collaborate to expand access to capital for forest farmers

Bandarlampung (ANTARA) – The Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Ministry of Forestry have collaborated to expand access to capital and finance for forest farmers managing social forestry.”There are eight areas of cooperation established today. The most essential is providing social forestry farmers with access to finance and capital, primarily through banking,” Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said in Bandarlampung on Friday evening.Some of the key areas of cooperation between the OJK and the Ministry of Forestry included developing a policy mix for the financial services sector and the forestry sector, as well as sustainable financial services and infrastructure products.In addition, the scope of the collaboration also included providing experts in the forestry and financial services sectors, preparing studies or research, providing for the exchange or utilization of data and information, increasing financial literacy and inclusion in the forestry sector, and enhancing human resource capacity and competency.To date, 8.3 million hectares of land have been granted access to social forestry management, with 1.4 million communities gaining access, and 15,000 social forestry business groups (KUPS) formed.It was hoped that the OJK could encourage banks to increase access to capital for social forestry farmers.”Thus, with this collaboration, these lands can become productive, sustainable forests to improve community welfare and economic growth,” said Minister Antoni.Besides accelerating access to capital for social forestry farmers, he said, the collaboration could also improve the community’s economic literacy.”Forest farmers have had difficulty applying for capital if they only rely on social forestry management decrees. Therefore, with this collaboration, hopefully, they will be more bankable,” he said.Meanwhile, Mahendra Siregar, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the OJK, stated that Lampung will be a pilot project for the collaboration.By expanding their access to capital and social forestry management, social forestry farmers were expected to improve their welfare.