Survey Finds Most Indonesians Doubt Future of Red and White Village Cooperatives

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting (SMRC) has recorded that the majority of the Indonesian public is not confident that the Red and White Village Cooperative (KDMP) will develop in the future. SMRC Executive Director, Deni Irvani, stated that the survey results show that the public's confidence in the program has dropped by around 18.3 percentage points from November 2025 to July 5-19, 2026.In the November 2025 survey, 43.3 percent of respondents stated that they believed KDMP would continue to develop. This figure then dropped to 41.7 percent in the survey from February 26 to March 5, 2026, and plummeted again to 25 percent in the survey from July 5-19, 2026. "Those who were confident, are now the opposite," said Deni in his statement on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.Conversely, respondents who were less or not confident that KDMP would develop reached 61.1 percent on July 5-19, 2026. In November 2025, the percentage of respondents reached 43.5 percent before rising to 48.4 percent in the February 26-March 5, 2026 survey.Based on the SMRC survey regarding the awareness or knowledge of KDMP on July 5-19, 2026, the survey reached 76.9 percent of respondents who were aware of the KDMP program. Previously, respondents reached 51.5 percent in November 2025, which later reached 54.5 percent in the February 26-March 5, 2026 period.Conversely, only 23.1 percent did not know about the program on July 5-19, 2026. Previously, respondents who knew about the KDMP program in November 2025 reached 48.5 percent, which later dropped to 45.5 percent during the mid-survey period. "So, the majority of nearly 80 percent of the residents now know if asked if they know or have heard of KDMP. Whereas nine months ago, around 50 percent were aware," he said.On another occasion, Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan said that many people misunderstood the Red and White Village Cooperatives. According to Zulhas, they consider the village cooperatives similar to supermarkets and general stores.The man commonly known as Zulhas said that the village cooperatives are government infrastructure for distributing government aid and subsidized products. In addition, village cooperatives become buyers or off-takers of agricultural products. As an off-taker, Zulhas said, village cooperatives can absorb production in the villages."If the price of rice is below the standard that we determine, then the cooperative can take over, can buy rice, corn, and so on," said Zulhas at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.The PAN politician said that the government is still finalizing regulations in the form of a presidential regulation regarding the operationalization of the Red and White cooperatives. "This is gradual because it cannot be done all at once," he said at the Graha Mandiri, Jakarta, on Monday, July 20, 2026.President Prabowo Subianto previously planned to make KDMP or the Red and White Village Cooperatives the distributor of subsidized goods. This step will change the flow of national subsidized goods distribution.The head of state made the statement in his speech at the peak of the 79th National Cooperative Day in Indonesia Arena, Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, on Sunday, July 12, 2026."I have decided, all subsidized goods must be distributed to the people through the Red and White Village Cooperatives. Subsidized goods for the people should not be traded so that those in need are the ones who receive them," said Prabowo as quoted from Antara.Sultan Abdurrahman and Alfitria Neficontributed to the writing of this articleRead: 900 Red and White Cooperatives to Trial Social Aid RolloutClick here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News