Andy Wijaya
IPMI International Business School
Amelia Naim Indrajaya
Keep this story going! Share below!
River Pollution will be reduced because cows manure no longer dissolved into river
Other benefits relate to efficient and clean energy e.g. shorter cooking time and cleaner kitchen (compare to cook using wood)
One of the project for Rabobank Foundation programs in Indonesia was to finance KPSG project. KPSG is a Cooperative cow farmer located in South Garut- West Java in Indonesia and it was established in 1974. The Cooperative delivers its milk production to major milk companies in West Java and produced into pasteurized milk and yogurt for local consumption.
Now the cooperative has around 6,000 members and more than 4,000 cows. Considering the farm has so many cows, it can be leverage to produce domestic biogas which provides a sustainable way for individual households with livestock to reduce dependence on firewood and expensive fossil fuels:
The KPSG project is to build a biogas digester which can convert the Cattle’s dung into biogas that can be used for cooking and lighting. The biogas digester has beneficial effect on income, health of the farmer’s family and for the environment.
In this project Rabo Foundation worked together with HIVOS which is an international organization that implement Biogas program in Indonesia which is called BIRU Programme. BIRU means ‘blue’ and is an acronym of Biogas “Rumah”, which translates as ‘biogas for the home’. This programme seeks to distribute biogas digesters as a local sustainable energy source by developing a profitable, market-oriented sector for the community that also provides job and business opportunities for masons and partner organizations in construction.
"We are happy to support KPSG so that cow manure can be further utilized to improve farmer livelihood and save the environment at the same time. We also notice sufficient sense of ownership and commitment from KPSG in this project, supported by BIRU. KPSG has now taken necessary steps to utilize the BIO Slurry for the benefit of their members" says Stepehn Wijaya and Retno Jayanti as Rabo Foundation Project Manager and team.
The Rabobank Foundation invests in capacity-building among its project partners to promote self-sufficiency. The foundation also dedicates their financial resources and the knowledge and expertise of Rabobank, its personnel, customers, and external partners to achieve this goal.
The Biogas digester of cow manure helps farmers to save energy consumptions by eliminating the need to buy LPG and firewood. The left over from this process is also an excellent organic fertilizer that can be used to improve crop yields, thus saving on costs of fertilizers and furthermore the fertilizers can be as additional income. Organic fertilizer is highly recommended for horticultural products
The change of the environment is gradually continue to improve especially to preserve nature due to reduction of CO2 and reduce of firewood by using renewable and natural energy. Additionally, the river pollution is decreasing since the cows manure no longer dissolved into the river.
Other benefits relate to efficient and clean energy are also being felt in the village such as shorter cooking time and cleaner kitchen area (compare cooking using fire wood).
In developing countries, Rabo Foundation helps small farmers to obtain access to financing, knowledge, and markets through their cooperatives. Many different financial instruments can be used.
Furthermore, Rabo Foundation helps the cooperative to become more professional and efficient. That means that they will be able to offer better services. The foundation also helps the cooperative to provide training to their member or to certify and access to domestic and international market to sell their products. In many cases, the foundation is the first funder the cooperative has ever had which most have never before received financial support.
When the cooperative becomes an ordinary customer of the local bank, Rabo Foundation mission is complete. This goes beyond profit, to people and planet.
Benefit for Community:
Benefit for Local Government:
Benefit for Environment:
Get stories of positive business innovations from around the world delivered right to your inbox.
Retno Jayanti, Rabo Foundation Team
