Two Indonesian Digital Startups Desire to Improve Welfare of Farmers, Fishermen

Jakarta, MINA – Two digital startup companies, Crowde and Aruna Indonesia desire to improve the welfare of farmers and fishermen by creating digital platforms.

“Every day we consume the crops from our farmers but unfortunately they still live in poverty and have to rely on middlemen to sell their crops. Therefore we want to solve this problem said Crowde’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Andrew Tobing in the online talkshow of MSME (Micro, small & Medium Enterprises) Digital Heroes entitled “Digital Superior Seeds for Agribusiness MSME” on Thursday, September 15.

According to Aruna Indonesia’s Head of Public Policy & Government Relations Elkana Lewerissa,  so many Indonesian farmers and fishermen still live in poverty.

“Indonesia is a maritime country, we are the second largest fish producer in the world, but surprisingly, so many of our fishermen live in poverty,” said Elkana in the talk show.

To lift fishermen out of poverty, Aruna Indonesia created an application so fishermen and markets can interact and do transactions directly without a middleman.

“With the technology we have, we can make sure that their catches sell directly to consumers and their income increases,” said Elkana.

In addition, Aruna Indonesia also helps fishermen that they build to sell their catches via online.

Meanwhile, Crowde created an application so Indonesian farmers can get access to finance  because many farmers have been rejected by banks when applying for capital business loans. 

“Crowde provides easier, fair, and transparent access to finance for farmers. Our application can collect agricultural data in just 10 minutes,” said Andrew.

Then, Crowde also created an application so  farmers, farmer’s markets, and buyers can interact and do transactions directly without a middleman.

In addition, Crowde and Aruna Indonesia have assistants for farmers and fishermen to teach them how to use digital applications created by them because not all farmers and fishermen understand it.

“Indonesia needs a creative generation to solve problems. No need to overthink, start with all we have around us, what we can do for the environment,” said Elkana.

To help farmers and fishermen, digital innovators and startups can register as a 2022 MSME Digital Hero.

Registration for the 2022 MSME Digital Hero is open until September 26, 2022. You can register via its official website www.pahlawandigitalumkm.setkab.go.id. (T/ri/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)