Jakarta and Bandung, Indonesia –AsiaDHHRA in partnership with Bina Desa (InDHRRA) conducted aSouth-South Learning Exchange (SSLE) Visit, with a theme: “Empowering Rural People’s Organizations through Social Enterprise” on 23-29 August 2017 in Jakarta and Bandung, Indonesia. A total of 46 leaders of rural people’s organizations and representatives of national DHRRAs in 8 Asean Countries participated in the exchange visit.
The group visited, amongst other the social enterprises of Javara, Bina Swadaya, and Mekar Tani Jaya that left inspiring “Farmtrepreneurship” spirit among the participants. The group also visited the ASEAN Headquarters and had a dialogue with some members of ASEAN Secretariat to further enrich orientation about ASEAN.
By the end of the visit, most of the participants noted the creativeness and innovativeness of the enterprises visited, especially in maximizing local resources in the community. The participants, who are all partners of AsiaDHRRA and national DHRRAs, noted that there is a need for them to re-examine their organizational goals and objectives to check their relevance and competence in establishing and/or managing enterprises. They also highlighted the need for continued learning exchanges, mapping and profiling of their produces, and, future market linkaging.
This learning exchange visit is conducted under Regional Cooperation to Empower Rural Development Organizations in Asia (ReCoERDO-Asia) and Farmers Fighting Poverty (FFP) programs being managed by AsiaDHRRA.