Ella Rizki Farihatul Maftuhah, 25, was born into a family that has been producing coconut sugar for generations.
By
Ester Lince Napitupulu
·6 minutes read
ARSIP PRIBADI
Ella Rizki Farihatul Maftuhah
Ella Rizki Farihatul Maftuhah, 25, was born into a family that has been producing coconut sugar for generations. Since 2012, Ella and her family have strived to introduce gula semut (granulated coconut sugar) and other innovative products to village residents. Her efforts have helped empower female farmers, who no longer have to try their luck in big cities to make a living.
In Ella’s hometown of Semen hamlet in Trenten village of Candimulyo district, Magelang regency, Central Java, every household typically cultivates coconut trees. While the male family members tap the trees to extract the sap, the women process the sap into rounds of sugar by using molds made from coconut shells. These are called gula jawa (Javanese sugar). This traditional process has been handed down through the generations without much change.
Ella, her mother Yuni Setyaningsih, and her two siblings observed many other ways of processing coconut sap into products that were more promising than the commonly used gula jawa. They thought about producing gula semut, or granulated coconut sugar, which is almost double the market price of ordinary gula jawa. To realize the idea, they started introducing a method to produce granulated coconut sugar to the residents of Semen in 2012.
“At first, our hamlet was strongly opposed to the idea of adopting the production method for granulated coconut sugar. Mother received a hostile response from the middlemen, who threatened to [clamp down on] her efforts to popularize granulated sugar production. But she persisted with her [campaign],” Ella said in Magelang on Monday (11/1/2021).
Over time, the local residents caught on to the method of producing granulated sugar and began to try it out at home. Ella’s family then accepted their products and sold them. Since 2013, their organic coconut sugar has penetrated the markets of South Korea and Europe, including the Netherlands.
Ella has played a major role in promoting the granulated coconut sugar production method and business in the hamlet. In 2015, her family’s coconut sugar business became a legal entity, registered as CV Nira Lestari. The business later formed a women’s cooperative, Kelompok Wanita Tani Nira Lestari Makmur (Nira Lestari prosperous female farmers group).
DOKUMENTASI PRIBADI
Ella Rizki Farihatul Maftuhah (right)
The development of granulated coconut sugar in Semen faced many challenges. Coconut sap production declined as the tappers grew older and the coconut trees became less productive. As a result, the availability of the raw material for producing coconut sugar also declined.
Ella racked her brains for how to overcome the situation. She thought about replacing the ageing coconut trees with genjah, a shorter, faster-bearing variety of coconut palm. But they would start producing fruit only three years after they were planted. Besides, she wasn’t sure if this coconut palm variety would provide suitable raw material for producing coconut sugar and other products.
Ella kept looking for information. One day, a vegetarian friend of hers became mixed up while looking for something to add to her salad and Ella inadvertently came across palm nectar, which is a common honey substitute for vegans.
“In other countries, there’s palm nectar. It turns out this is extracted from coconut sap and its selling price can be five times higher than granulated coconut sugar,” said Ella.
With the support of a company in Magelang, Ella researched organic palm nectar. From her studies, she learned in August 2020that she could produce organic palm nectar from coconut flowers. This vegan-friendly organic sweetener sells for Rp 35,000 per 250 milliliters, much higher than the price of granulated coconut sugar, which sells for around Rp 25,000 per kilogram.
Aside from organic palm nectar, she also started producing virgin coconut oil (VCO), charcoal briquettes and liquid smoke made from coconut shells that can be used to smoke fish and meat.
DOKUMENTASI CV NIRA LESTARI
A female farmer in Trenten Village, Candimulyo District, Magelang Regency, Central Java, received training in producing coconut into ant sugar, VCO oil and organic palm nectar from Ella Rizki Farihatul Maftuhah.
Educational path
How did Ella come up with so many ideas to support the coconut-based industry of Semen? The answer is that she continued to study and learn to develop her scientific knowledge. When she felt that a breakthrough was needed to make use of the abundant supply of coconut-based raw materials in her hamlet, she turned to science. She applied for a scholarship and enrolled at the Industry Ministry’s Analytical Chemistry Academy (AKA) Polytechnic in Bogor, West Java.
She applied the science she learned at the polytechnic to the organic cultivation of coconut trees. She replaced chemical fertilizers with organic compost. For tapping the trees, she eliminated chemicals and instead used natural materials like mangosteen peels.
Ella acknowledged that the chemistry program had helped her improve the quality of granulated coconut sugar her hamlet produced. She grew even more serious about pursuing further chemistry studies. So she earned a bachelor of chemistry at Bogor’s Nusa Bangsa University, and then continued on to earn a master degree at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta.
“At first, I dug deeper into chemistry because I wanted to benefit from the scientific knowledge. But when I noticed its impact on farmers, my goal changed. Now I’m pursuing science so I can help empower communities,” said Ella, who graduated cum laude from UGM’s master of chemistry program in July 2020.
Some of her dreams have come true. The wide variety of coconut derivatives the hamlet now produces has opened greater business opportunities for the women of Semen. About 94 women in the hamlet are active producers of granulated coconut sugar and other products made from coconut shells that they sell to the cooperative. The business has provided a livelihood to the hamlet’s women so they can support their families’ needs, put their children through school and even start saving part of their income.
Ella is happy, as most of the women in her neighborhood can now rely on the hamlet to make their living, when some had no option but to leave their families behind for the big citiies to work as domestic workers.
Ella Rizki Farihatul Maftuhah
Born: Magelang, 14 April 1995
Education:
- Population Activity Resources and Environment (PARE) Program, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (2020)
- Master of chemistry (cum laude), Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta (2018-2020)
- Bachelor of chemistry, Nusa Bangsa University, Bogor (2015-2017)
- Analytical chemistry, AKA Polytechnic, Bogor (2012-2015)
