Proceedings of the 4th ASIAENGAGE REGIONAL CONFERENCE, 26 – 28 November 2018, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Developing community-based agroindustry by empowering women and disabled people: a case study in Kidal Village, Regency, East ,

Sri Suhartini1,* Fatmawati2, Rosalina A. Laeliocattleya3, and Siti Zurinani2 1 Department of Agroindustrial Technology, Faculty of Agriculutral Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia 2 Faculty of Cultural Studies, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia 3 Department of Agricultural Product Technology, Faculty of Agriculutral Technology Faculty of Cultural Science, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia

Abstract

Kidal Village is located in Malang Regency, , Indonesia, known for their jackfruit, chicken eggs, and its historical temple of Kidal. Furthermore, the village is also in the route of popular tourism destination of Bromo, Tengger and Mountains. Indonesian Government has also chosen Kidal Village as one of the self-reliance village model in Indonesia. Therefore, it is crucial to engage and advance the network and collaboration between government and university or other relevant stakeholders. However, there are some problems faced by the community in the village. For example, during the harvesting season, the price of jackfruit is cheap and no proper storage systems make the fruit to rotten. Another problem is the high rate of poverty, human resource quality, bad village’s image, and lack of fruit-based product diversification. Problem of waste from rotten fruit which are disposed directly into the environment has created pollution to the nearby environment. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce technology for the valorisation of fruit waste. Universitas Brawijaya (UB), trough Program Doktor Mengabdi, has a community engagement program together with the Kidal Village Government and their communities in tackling these problems, with the principles of empowerment and working for the community. The aims of this study were to explore local resource and their potential for agroindustry, form and assist a community- based agroindustry, and develop Kidal Village as self-reliance village model. The program targeted poor women (who are the member of Program Keluarga Harapan/PKH) and the people with disabilities in Kidal Village. Furthermore, within the program, five undergraduate students were also sent to stay in the village for one-month period (from July to August 2018) to help the UB team in assisting the targeted villagers. Several alternative solutions proposed in this study were (1) empowering communities through the creation of creative agroindustries (food and non-food based), (2) increasing the selling value of jackfruit through jackfruit-based diversification product, (3) involving people with disabilities and unemployed youth in the productive activities through t-shirt design and printing, (4) creating an icon product using the local resource known as one village one product (OVOP); and (5) initiating the establishment of Kidal Village as the self-reliance village model in Indonesia. Up to date, there are various activities were carried out, include training on making of jackfruit-based products (i.e. jackfruit drink, jackfruit jam, and jackfruit dodol); basic design and screen printing training (i.e. Kidal Temple motif); workshops on quality control, cleaner production, legalisation of home-scale industry, waste valorisation, marketing, and business economic analysis; technology introduction, and creation of community-based agroindustry. Three groups of community-based agroindustries were created to valorise jackfruit, involving 30 women of PKH members. Waste from cloth/fabric will also be used to create souvenirs i.e. wallet and bags with Kidal temple motif. The results of this activities demonstrated that workshops and assistance activities have provided a new perspective and skill to all participants. The skills on food-processing and basic inductrial system have increased. Where, all participants of design training, were able to create their own design and carried out the print screen themselves with a very good results. Such findings indicated that the collaboration between UB and Kidal Village Government has given opportunities and benefits to increase the life skills of the targeted participants,

* Corresponding author: Sri Suhartini, STP. M.Env.Mgt. PhD, Department of Agroindustrial Technology, Faculty of Agriculutral Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, 65145, INDONESIA, Phone: 62-087-873815196, E-mail: [email protected]

Proceedings of the 4th ASIAENGAGE REGIONAL CONFERENCE, 26 – 28 November 2018, Chiang Mai, Thailand

as well as to contribute on preserving the nature and local resources. This assistance program has also enabled the rural women to initiate productive activities through a group-based home-scale business. In conclusion, the findings confirmed that the engagement program between University-Community has provided a platform enabling the academic staff to transfer their knowledge and skill to the benefits of the community.

Keywords Agroindustry, self-reliance village, community empowerment, disability, poor women

Acknowledgements (Optional) This research has been supported by Program Doktor Mengabdi funded by Universitas Brawijaya.