This year's Cooperatives Day commemoration is marked by sharp debate regarding the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives (KDMP) initiative. With a projected investment of IDR 240 trillion to establish 80,000 cooperative units over six years, this policy has drawn sharp criticism from various elements of society. Public doubts are rooted not only in the size of the budget, but also in the formation mechanism which is considered unusual, including semi-military training for managers and the questionable effectiveness of outlet placement.
Academically, the failure of cooperatives in Indonesia so far is not merely a capital deficit problem. Various research shows that the fundamental weakness lies in the inadequate quality of management. Many cooperatives are run without a sharp business orientation, weak financial management, and low capacity for innovation. Without capable managerial capacity, large funding injections actually risk becoming a burden for the organization itself.
Reflecting on the success of the Solok Radjo Cooperative in West Sumatra, success was not born from government aid handouts, but from a deep understanding of the real problems faced by coffee farmers. The business model built there was able to create added value through a fair entrepreneurial approach, proving that economic incentives are the main driving force for members to remain loyal and participate voluntarily.
The main issue today is the emergence of "inertia" or reluctance to innovate among ultra-micro entrepreneurs. To overcome this, the focus of cooperative development must be shifted from simply providing physical infrastructure to developing competent entrepreneurial actors. Those who are able to map the market and read opportunities, rather than just mass mobilization project executors, are the key to cooperative sustainability.
Ultimately, public policy must return to an empirical evaluation basis, not just administrative legitimacy. If cooperative policies continue to be formulated without learning from field evidence, it is feared that the government will only repeat the same mistakes on a more massive scale. The essence of an empowered cooperative is not about how big the budget allocated is, but about how resilient the human resources running the organization are amidst market dynamics.
