Dean Of Fp Usu Serves As Resource Person In Agrarian Reform Technical Guidance, Promotes Land Empowerment For Community Welfare

The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture of Universitas Sumatera Utara (FP USU), Dr. Rulianda Purnomo Wibowo, S.P., M.Ec., served as a resource person at the Technical Guidance on Community Land Empowerment for the 2026 Agrarian Reform Access Recipient Data Program organized by the Regional Office of the National Land Agency (BPN) of North Sumatra Province. The event was held on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at the Bhumi Bhakti Hall of the BPN Regional Office in North Sumatra.

During the program, Dr. Rulianda delivered a presentation entitled “Community Land Empowerment within the Framework of Agrarian Reform” under the central theme “From Land Tenure Security to Productivity, Self-Reliance, and Welfare.” The presentation highlighted that land should not be viewed merely as an administrative asset but also as a foundation for livelihoods, production, and community well-being.

Dr. Rulianda explained that Agrarian Reform should be understood through two interconnected pillars: asset restructuring and access restructuring. Asset restructuring focuses on land tenure security, legalization, and land redistribution, while access restructuring emphasizes economic empowerment through productive land utilization. Both components must work hand in hand to ensure that Agrarian Reform not only provides legal certainty but also promotes productivity, value-added commodity development, economic independence, and improved community welfare.

In his presentation, Dr. Rulianda also emphasized the importance of post-certification empowerment. According to him, land certificates alone do not automatically make land productive unless they are accompanied by economic interventions, mentoring programs, access to technology, capacity building, institutional strengthening, financing support, value chain development, and business sustainability initiatives. Therefore, empowerment serves as a crucial bridge connecting land tenure security with improvements in community welfare.

Within this context, FP USU plays a strategic role in bridging access gaps through the implementation of the university’s Tri Dharma of Higher Education: education, research, and community service. The faculty’s contributions include research and potential mapping, education and training programs, community assistance, impact evaluation, agricultural technology development, agribusiness clinics, institutional strengthening, and sustainability monitoring.

The presentation also proposed several operational collaboration initiatives, including the development of village economic potential profiles, farmer field schools, commodity demonstration plots, agribusiness clinics, Agrarian Reform-themed community service programs (KKN), and monitoring and evaluation of productivity, income, and sustainability outcomes. Through these approaches, Agrarian Reform recipient data is expected to become more than administrative records and serve as a foundation for targeted empowerment interventions.

The event also served as a platform to strengthen collaboration among BPN, local governments, universities, communities, and business or market partners. Under the collaborative model presented, BPN is responsible for data provision, legal facilitation, and coordination; local governments support sectoral programs and infrastructure development; FP USU contributes through research, technology, training, and evaluation; while business and market partners facilitate offtaker access, financing opportunities, and quality-based purchasing mechanisms.

Through its involvement in this initiative, the Faculty of Agriculture USU reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Agrarian Reform by ensuring that legally secured land can be utilized productively, sustainably, and for the direct benefit of community welfare. Moving forward, FP USU stands ready to serve as a strategic partner in advancing community empowerment based on local agricultural potential, from data mapping and mentoring to long-term impact assessment and evaluation.

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