12th SATU Indonesia Awards 2021 Encourages Environmental Awareness in Young Generation

12th SATU Indonesia Awards 2021 Encourages Environmental Awareness in Young Generation

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s geographical location has made the country unique to its Southeast Asian peers, being both a maritime and agricultural nation.

In agriculture, Indonesia is blessed with fertile land that is suitable for a wide variety of food crops. Unfortunately, this sector has not been able to attract the interest of the younger generations compared to other sectors that are currently in high demand.

Luckily, a young man from Jombang, East Java, felt compelled to contribute to the setor’s development. He is Rizki Hamdani, a recipient of the 2020 Semangat Astra Terpadu Untuk (SATU) Indonesia Awards from the environment category who has the courage to change his community. However small, his initiatives are making a difference.

Rizki was one of the speakers at the virtual Inspiration with the 12th SATU Indonesia Awards 2021 themed “Act Now for Earth’s Future” held by Astra in collaboration with Young On Top today (25/6), hosted by Iyas Lawrence. Other speakers include Nadine Chandrawinata, a public figure and founder of Seasoldier, and Arif Zulkifli, Acting President Director of PT Tempo Inti Media Tbk. Arif is also one of the judges of the 12th SATU Indonesia Awards 2021.

The panel of speakers carried out interesting discussions throughout the event, presenting various perspectives on environmental issues.

“Humans have the responsibility to protect this earth. We reap earth’s bounties, and now we must be the ones who save it. We have to remember, we are responsible to care for our planet,” said Nadine who, through SeaSoldier movement that she founded, is committed to act and get everyone to care for the environment.

Sharing Nadine’s passion for environmental sustainability, Rizki initiated the Millennial Santri Farmer Group that implements an integrated farming system, which is a sustainable agricultural land management, together with the students (known as santri) of Islamic boarding schools in Jombang, East Java. The agricultural system applies a zero-waste principle and converts agricultural waste into animal feed, pesticide raw materials, and organic fertilizers.

Upon learning about the contributions of the two speakers, Arif Zulkifli believes that there are still many young people out there who care about the environment’s future.

“I think what Nadine and Rizki said earlier is extraordinary because, it turns out, amid the current situation, there are still people with such great concern for the environment. And we need more people like them,” said Arif.

Improving the Life Quality of Santri Farmers
The Millenial Santri Farmer Group is a social entrepreneurship group developed by Rizki Hamdani to independently empower the economy of santris in Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) in Jombang through the agribusiness sector.

Through this group, Rizki wants to convince the younger generation that farming can be a career option that gives a decent income in the future. Rizki uses several ways to attract the santris’ interest in this program, such as inviting them to do a farming simulation.

“The students who take interest in our work will be asked to design a program and present it to their school principals. Successful proposals will get seed capital from their principals, which they can use to buy all their farming needs,” he said.

Post-harvest, the young farmers are reminded to share their profits for almsgiving, with their school’s business unit, and with their investors, while the remaining amount can be retained as savings. However, in the event of financial loss, they are not required to pay back the capital. Rizki believes that this strategy is effective to attract santris who are keen to learn to become entrepreneurs and pursue crops and livestock farming.

To ensure that santris can enjoy a higher income, Rizki has also shortened the distribution chain. For example, they can now sell their beef cattle directly to slaughterhouses, or crop yields to mills, instead to an offtaker as they did in the past.

As a result of his hard work, as of August last year, more than 40 farmers’ groups, each consisting of 20 people, have succeeded in increasing their income with a turnover of hundreds of millions of rupiah per month.

Rizki hopes that the Millenial Santri Farmer Group program can continue to run in pesantren and reach more santris skilled in agriculture and fisheries.

Just like the previous year, SATU Indonesia Awards is looking for Indonesia’s youth who work tirelessly to benefit their communities. Astra presents the awards to five aspiring young people and one group for their efforts in the five fields of Health, Education, Environment, Entrepreneurship, and Technology.

Continuing last year’s initiative, Astra will again present special awards for selfless heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 12th SATU Indonesia Awards 2021, in collaboration with Tempo, Antara, Kumparan, IDN Times, and Young On Top, wishes to attract more than 10,000 applicants and expect 80% of the applicants to pass the initial administrative screening.

Each award recipient at the national level and from the special category will receive a Rp60 million activity grant and coaching.

For more information and registration, go to www.satu-indonesia.com. Registration is open until August 2, 2021.

The spirit of Rizki Hamdani and the other young people to improve the quality of the environment is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and Astra’s mission to prosper with the nation.

For further information, please contact:

Boy Kelana Soebroto
Head of Corporate Communications
PT Astra International Tbk
Ph.021-508-43-888

About Astra

PT Astra International Tbk was established in 1957 in Jakarta as a general trading company under the name Astra International Inc. In 1990, for the purpose of the company’s initial public offering (IPO), the name of the company changed to PT Astra International Tbk, followed by listing its shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the ticker code ASII.

Astra has developed its business by implementing a business model based on synergies and diversification within seven business divisions: 1) Automotive, 2) Financial Services, 3) Heavy Equipment, Mining, Construction & Energy, 4) Agribusiness, 5) Infrastructure and Logistics, 6) Information Technology and 7) Property.

Astra Group conducts business operations in all parts of Indonesia under the management of more than 238 companies, including subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates, and was supported by more than 188,000 employees, as of March 2021.

As one of the largest national business groups in Indonesia today, Astra has built a strong reputation through offering a range of quality products and services, taking into account the implementation of good corporate and environmental governance. Astra always aspires to be the pride of the nation that participates in efforts to improve the welfare of the Indonesian people.

Astra's business activities strive to apply a balanced mix in the commercial aspects of business and non-business contributions through 9 foundations and a variety of sustainable social responsibility programmes, namely Astra Untuk Indonesia Sehat, Astra Untuk Indonesia Cerdas, Astra Untuk Indonesia Hijau and Astra Untuk Indonesia Kreatif.

Astra initiated the Semangat Astra Terpadu Untuk (SATU) Indonesia Awards programme, which has entered its eleventh year, and has given recognition awards to 397 young Indonesians, consisting of 70 national level recipients and 327 provincial level recipients in the fields of Health, Education, the Environment, Entrepreneurship and Technology, which are integrated with Astra’s wide range of community activities through 116 Kampung Berseri Astra and 755 Desa Sejahtera Astra initiatives in 34 provinces throughout Indonesia.

For further information, please visit www.astra.co.id & www.satu-indonesia.com, and follow Astra through Instagram (@satu_Indonesia), Youtube (SATU Indonesia), Facebook (Semangat Astra Terpadu) and Twitter (@satu_Indonesia).