The development of integrated farming systems in the upland project, which is currently being processed for approval in 2019 adopts a commodity value chain enhancement model to improve the productivity & livelihoods of smallholder farmers across 14 districts in Indonesia. Given the strategic market potential of some of the commodities, a Reverse Linkage activity is being proposed to be mainstreamed within the project. The objective of the Reverse Linkage activity would be to enhance the downstream value chain aspects of the project by looking at improving branding, quality assurance, packaging and international export market opportunities.  

In this regard, a Reverse Linkage validation mission was conducted on 8-16 July and wrap up meeting on  July 16th, 2019, the IsDB RHI team, along with the Reverse Linkage specialists from IsDB HQ, met with the Ministry of Agriculture for the wrap-up meeting on Reverse Linkage for the Upland Project. This wrap-up meeting was also attended by representatives from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the National Planning Agency (Bappenas).  

During the wrap-up meeting, it was concluded that the Reserve Linkage (RL) component would be an integral part of the project, as such The RL will play a complementary but critical role to the existing project activities. Max Agri Commerce Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) will be the provider to provide technical assistance, capacity building for the Farmers Associations on marketing, packaging, and requirements for the opening-up potential foreign market for export.