Public-Private Collaboration to Alleviate Extreme Poverty and Reduce Stunting Rates in Manggarai Barat, East Nusa Tenggara

Caption: The signing of MOU between the district government of Manggarai Barat, East Nusa Tenggara, and a social enterprise, WeCare.id, to reduce poverty and stunting in the region, August 6, 2024.

The Government of Indonesia targets to alleviate extreme poverty down to 0% and to reduce stunting prevalence to 14% in 2024. However, in 2023, the extreme poverty rate was still 1.1%, while stunting prevalence remained high at 21.5%. East Nusa Tenggara province is one of the priority areas for addressing these two development issues. Among 22 districts in the province, Manggarai Barat is relatively developed. The rapid development of the tourism sector helped the district to be economically vibrant. However, this has not been trickled down to social development. In 2023, 4.5% of Manggarai Barat’s population was still considered “extremely poor,” while stunting prevalence was as high as 36.2%.  

When USAID ERAT was started in mid-2022, USAID ERAT initiated its support to Manggarai Barat in addressing extreme poverty and stunting. In 2023, USAID ERAT supported both provincial and district government in analyzing poverty data. Provincial government overlaid the Targeting Data for Acceleration of Extreme Poverty (P3KE) curated by the National Poverty Reduction Team, Social Welfare Data (DTKS) managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs, and Population Administration and Civil Registration curated by the Ministry of Home Affairs. This process identified a significant number of the Manggarai Barat population were not covered by Employment Insurance (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan).

The Employment Insurance protects workers, including those working in informal sectors. Any worker who experiences a workplace accident will receive benefits such as unlimited medical treatment and care until they can return to work, including disability compensation and death benefits. In the formal sector, employers are responsible for covering the Employment Insurance premiums. This is not the case in the informal sector, including farmers, fishermen, tour guides, and tourism transportation workers who can be considered as working in high-risk sectors. Vulnerable groups, such as people with disability and women-headed households, were also not protected. 

The government of Manggarai Barat responded to this situation by increasing its local budget allocation for subsidizing the premiums by threefold to USD 12,841 in 2024. This is adequate to cover 1,000 vulnerable informal workers. However, the data poverty data analysis above identified a total of 3,000 vulnerable people not covered by Employment Insurance. 

Responding to the challenge, USAID ERAT facilitated the district government to link with WeCare.id, a social entrepreneur focuses on generating funds from individuals and private companies to address social development issues. WeCare.id was one of the finalists of the WiNNER social entrepreneurship competition that was implemented by the Ministry and Administrative and Bureaucracy Reform in partnership with USAID ERAT. 

During the discussions, Manggarai Barat government and WeCare.id not only agreed to cooperate in expanding the coverage of Employment Insurance discussed above, but also to finance the government’s stunting reduction efforts. The district government previously attempted to address this issue by launching a crowdfunding movement to reduce stunting (Gerai Molas Mabar), targeting civil servants and visitors to contribute. However, the LG had to comply with national regulations from the Ministry of Social Affairs that allow fundraising for social causes to be carried out by social organizations. This initiative was later merged with WeCare.id to support crowdfunding for stunting reduction. 

On August 6, 2024, the CEO of WeCare.id and the Regent of Manggarai Barat signed a memorandum of understanding on the collaboration, that was elaborated in two cooperative agreements with the District Employment Office and the Health Offices that were signed on the same date. WeCare.id would generate funds to finance premiums of Employment Insurance for vulnerable workers – with a target of about 2,000 people who are not covered by the government subsidies – and priority actions of the district government in reducing stunting. 

In mid-August 2024, WeCare.id established two donation portals, leveraging USD 148 from 24 individual donors to finance workers’ premiums and USD 373 from 52 individual donors to finance the stunting program for Manggarai Barat to date. To promote the platforms and socialize stunting prevention further, WeCare.id collaborated with influencers to train posyandu cadres by bringing a breastfeeding counselor to Liang Sola village and invited an author to lead a literacy activity and book donation to an elementary school. The team also engaged two social enterprises, which donated vitamin D supplies to the village and funded USD 9,740 for community organizing activities, specifically for vulnerable workers. As the partnership between LG and private enterprises became solid, USAID ERAT remains committed to socializing both platforms and facilitating business meetings with the tourism sector organizations and the Employment Office. 

This collaboration promotes a supportive environment for the district government and social enterprises, enabling them to work together toward the district’s long-term social development goals and ultimately improve the quality of life for its residents.

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