Ministry highlights role of vocational colleges in food security

  The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology has underscored the crucial role of vocational higher education institutions in addressing various societal challenges, including efforts to strengthen national food security.

Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Brian Yuliarto highlighted the importance of research downstreaming and matching fund schemes between universities and regional industries, ensuring that research outcomes extend beyond publications and are transformed into practical solutions.

“The Ministry invites all universities to strengthen research based on local needs and to expand partnerships with local governments, businesses, and communities. Through collaboration and appropriate technology, villages will not only become production centers but also sources of innovation for a sustainable future,” Brian said in a statement received in Jakarta 

Echoing that view, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Fauzan said that food security is not only about production capacity, but also about the ability to innovate, emphasizing that collaboration between universities, industry, and communities is key to maintaining the nation’s food resilience.

One such initiative supported by the ministry is the Central Java Vocational College Consortium (PTV), which organized the 2025 Central Java Berdikari Harvest Festival under the theme “Innovation Stage: Appropriate Technology and Multi-Stakeholder Synergy for a Sustainable Future,” held in Semarang on Thursday (Nov 6).

Chair of the Central Java PTV Consortium Kurnianingsih said that through the event, the consortium seeks to strengthen partnership ecosystems and promote innovation based on regional potential.

The initiative has produced downstreamed research products that have been adopted by various industries and micro, small, and medium enterprises.

“Vocational universities play a vital role in ensuring that appropriate technological innovations can be applied immediately. We not only conduct research but also assist villages in implementing and independently developing these innovations,” she said.

According to the Central Java Statistics Agency (BPS), 42.01 percent of farmers in the province in 2023 were aged 43 years or older, while millennial farmers accounted for 18.78 percent and Generation Z farmers for only 0.96 percent. The agency also reported that the use of digital technology in the agricultural sector remained below 20 percent of total agricultural enterprises.

The same report showed that the number of agricultural businesses in Central Java in 2023 reached 4,366,317 units, a decline of 13.21 percent compared with a decade earlier, when the figure stood at 5,031,033.

The aging farming population, limited technological capacity, and decline in agricultural enterprises pose challenges to regenerating and transforming production systems to become more efficient and adaptive to climate change.