Millennial Farmer Training Program Indonesia

The program focuses on practical learning in sustainable agriculture, agribusiness, entrepreneurship, access to finance, and collaboration across the agricultural ecosystem. Participants are expected to become role models and innovators in their communities, helping to make farming more sustainable, business-minded, and attractive to the next generation.

The program works around three connected focus areas:

Strengthening technical skills in sustainable agriculture

Participants build their capacity in adaptive, environmentally sustainable, and locally relevant farming practices. Featured topics include climate-smart agriculture, integrated pest management, soil health management, and wetland management.

Agribusiness and entrepreneurship development

The program supports participants in strengthening farm business management, market orientation, scaling opportunities, and access to finance.

Strengthening the agricultural ecosystem and institutional collaboration

The program promotes collaboration between government institutions, education institutions, and development partners to support long-term sustainability and possible replication.

A lively mix of farmers, advisers and graduates

The program works with:

• 19 millennial farmers, aged 20–40, selected from Food Brigade and Food Estate programs in North Sumatra
• 7 agricultural extension officers and technical agricultural personnel, including representatives from BPPSDMP and related institutions
• 5 alumni of agricultural education institutions, including alumni of POLBANGTAN Medan and agricultural vocational education institutions

Learning journey

The program includes an inception phase, a needs assessment, curriculum development, participant selection, and several training modules. Topics include climate-smart agriculture, digital agriculture, agribusiness and entrepreneurship, scaling and access to finance, training of trainers, technical consolidation, post-harvest practices, peer coaching, program replication, and the development of a community of practice.

The MDF – iCRA alliance in action

The program is implemented through the MDF–iCRA alliance, together with Delphy, IPB University, and Arconesi. The MDF–iCRA alliance combines iCRA’s expertise in agriculture, agribusiness, agri-education, and trust-based partnership facilitation with MDF’s experience in organizational strengthening, program management, financial management, learning, and inclusive leadership. Together, we support people and institutions to collaborate effectively, learn through practice, and turn new skills into lasting improvements.

Within the program, iCRA helps connect farmers, extension services, education institutions, and other actors around real farming and business challenges. Our contribution focuses particularly on agribusiness and entrepreneurship, peer coaching, program replication, and the development of a community of practice. This helps participants not only strengthen their own work but also share their knowledge, build stronger networks, and support the next generation of farmers.