Jakarta. The government is sticking to the plan of setting up 70,000 of the so-called Merah Putih or Red and White cooperatives that will function as food distributors at the rural level by July.

The program is now waiting for President Prabowo Subianto to sign the presidential instruction, according to Chief Food Affairs Minister Zulkifli Hasan. The signed document is expected to be signed within a month.

Indonesia plans to set up cooperatives across tens of thousands of its villages to simplify the food distribution chain. These cooperatives are expected to take out the middlemen in the distribution. This way, farmers can get their products directly to the consumers in the urban areas through these cooperatives, thus making food more affordable.

"The cooperatives will slash the [food] distribution chain, directly connecting the products from the villages to the cities and vise versa," Zulkifli said on Tuesday, as reported by the state news agency Antara.

Each cooperative will get an initial capital of between Rp 3 billion and Rp 5 billion (starting from $179,785 to $299,148).

"We are working on the sources of funds. Whether it will come from the central government's spending or regional budget, we are working on it," Zulkifli said.

Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi said that the program called for a robust legal framework to ensure the businesses' transparency.

"We should be prudent. These Merah Putih cooperatives need to be managed transparently, professionally, and responsibly," Budi said.

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