Dr. Tri Anggraeni Kusumastuti, head of the agribusiness laboratory at the Department of Socioeconomics, UGM Faculty of Animal Science, has been appointed a professor of socioeconomics.
During the inauguration ceremony at the UGM Senate Hall on Tuesday (Apr. 16), she delivered a speech entitled “Assessment and Implementation of Environmental Economics to Support Green Economy Towards Sustainable Livestock Development.”
“Research with an environmental perspective is one of the topics in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is an area of expertise that I have been involved in, especially in research and community service activities,” Professor Kusumastuti said.
She noted that the world is facing a triple planetary crisis: climate change, pollution and contamination, and the accelerated loss of biodiversity.
Through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), under the agenda ‘Environment and Sustainable Development,’ the Indonesian government explains efforts to maintain the environment and sustainable development by prioritizing waste management.
Waste management includes strengthening capacity and capabilities through transitioning from a linear to a circular approach or 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) in extended producer responsibility (the responsibility of stakeholders) towards a circular economy with the principle of reduction through recycling or recovery of resources and assets.
She emphasized that improving economic welfare depends on the environment’s ability to provide natural resources and absorb pollution. Policies in the field of environmental protection that affect economic activities are essential.
“Assessment of environmental economics through accurate and periodic data collection can be used as the basis for valuing input assets in livestock farming, renewable and non-renewable resources,” she elaborated.
Professor Kusumastuti hopes that environmental economics can achieve sustainable growth in the livestock subsector.
Therefore, in her speech, she outlined concepts of green economy and sustainable development, livestock issues from economic, environmental, and socio-cultural perspectives, environmental economics assessment, and environmental economics implementation to enhance income and economic growth.
She mentioned that the government has already initiated several programs to increase environmental economics knowledge and awareness.
Some of these programs include Education for Sustainable Development and Greening Education Partnership, which has four pillars: green schools (Adiwiyata), green curriculum (environmental materials in the curriculum), green training for teachers and policymakers, and green community involvement (engagement of the community in ecological learning through non-formal education).
Implementing environmental economics in the livestock sector can be challenging due to the low level of education and technology among livestock farmers, the lack of institutions in livestock groups, and the lack of awareness among livestock business actors regarding environmental management.
Therefore, building the mindset about the importance of a green economy in utilizing input resources and their by-products should ideally start from livestock groups.
This is because the majority of farms in Indonesia are family farms. The formation of solid and trustworthy livestock groups supported by infrastructure and technology has the potential to build livestock cooperatives and livestock agribusiness terminals that are expected to serve as sources of information, market information, and livestock production centers, thus bringing added value and income to farmers.
“The introduction of technology for products and valuable by-products can be carried out collectively through social capital (cooperation) in livestock groups, resulting in increased income for farmers,” she concluded.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Photographer: Firsto