The Long Road of Agricultural Digitalisation in Indonesia

Amid the massive technological advancements, almost all parties within the government are competing to transform. Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic and its contribution to economic recovery, digitalisation is projected to be one of the key aspects in realizing the dream of a Golden Indonesia in 2045. The agricultural sector is no exception. Recently, Indonesia President, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized the need for technological development and smart agriculture systems.

“Now is the era of technology, smart systems, especially in the districts, we must be able to upgrade our agricultural system to smart agriculture. Focus on the main products in each region, conduct research, not too much, just one, research.” ^[1]

Smart agriculture or smart farming is a farming method that integrates the use of technology to facilitate farmers in managing and increasing their agricultural productivity. A study by Andrea Krienim (2019) titled “Smart Farming Technology Innovations – Insights and Reflections from the German Smart-AKIS Hub” found that digitalisation in agriculture, which has entered the era of Industry 4.0, can enhance precision in the input application for crops and farmland. This has great potential to increase farmers’ income and contribute to sustainable agriculture.

Despite the opportunities, the rapid and fast-paced changes often leave many parties ‘stumbling’. The effort to transform and increase agricultural productivity becomes a major challenge given the limited facilities and infrastructure and the fact that many farmers are still unfamiliar with it.

Infrastructure obstacles

Although it is projected to become one of the key aspects towards an Advanced Indonesia, under the name Indonesia Maju, agricultural digitalisation in Indonesia seems to still require a long road. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) states that 70% or about 120 million Indonesians live in rural areas, 60% of whom work as farmers, and only about 29.5% of them have internet access (Kominfo, 2020). In Kapuas Hulu, the GRASS (Greening Agricultural Smallholder Supply Chains) project’s baseline study also found that smartphone users and access to information among smallholder farmers are still below 50%. The limited availability of infrastructure becomes one of the fundamental challenges of digitalisation, which should serve as the driving force of Indonesian agriculture. This issue becomes more complex with uneven access, high transformation costs, and the lack of farmers’ capacity in using and utilizing technology. Of course, complex problems need to be solved with unconventional strategies.

Digital acceleration, where to start?

Almost all digital aspects need to be addressed immediately. But what should be prioritised? In the national strategy white paper for digital economy development 2030 released by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, it is stated that there are six pillars to be pursued, where the first pillar targets infrastructure improvement, expanding internet penetration, and improving digital infrastructure quality. This is followed by human resource development, research, and so on. In other words, infrastructure is something that must be prioritized. However, in the agricultural sector, not much can be done by the relevant ministries due to authority and funding constraints. Thus, the acceleration of digitalisation is carried out by developing other facilities and improving human resources. For example, what has been done by the Directorate General of Estate Crops (Ditjenbun) in developing several applications and training them to the targets as a concrete step.

The digitalisation approach promoted by the bilateral cooperation project between Germany and Indonesia, GRASS, also has similar ambitions. In collaboration with Ditjenbun, this project develops and pilots online learning (e-learning) designed according to the needs and local context of independent farmers in Kapuas Hulu. To date, this effort is still ongoing and is expected to be a solution in making farmers more accustomed to using technology, enhancing their capacity and agricultural productivity.

^[1] Disampaikan pada Peresmian Pembukaan

Rakornas 2024