Innovator for Village Development

Tatang Mulyana Sinaga

· 6 minutes read

After graduating from university 10 years ago, Dadeng Sutaryadi Irawan, 33, did not hesitate to return home. He took various jobs, working as a teacher, village head and village-owned enterprise (BUMDes) director. His service for village development was not all smooth sailing.

It was a cool morning in Gelaranyar village, Pagelaran subdistrict, Cianjur regency, West Java, on Saturday (17/8/2019). Walking through the dewy grass, Dadeng rushed to residents’ kitchens.

That morning, he checked the stock of palm sugar produced by local residents. Over the past 1.5 years, the village\'s superior product has attracted many buyers from outside the region, such as Bandung, Bekasi, and Sumedang.

Palm sugar is sold to village-owned enterprise Mugilancar led by Dadeng. Through the internet, palm sugar and other village products, such as galangal powder, turmeric powder and scented lemongrass oil, are marketed through social media. As a result, the market reach has expanded and the selling price has increased.

One of the kitchens he visited belongs to his in-laws. It was this bamboo-walled kitchen where a new chapter began for local sugar palm farmers. "Three years ago, I was pondering in this kitchen: My father-in-law has a palm tree and cultivates it himself, but why is it difficult to develop?" Dadeng said, recounting the question that had vexed him at the time.

After asking his in-laws and other sugar palm farmers, Dadeng found the answer. The main problem was the lack of product innovation and limited markets. The farmers depended only on middlemen.

The price of palm sugar set by the middleman is erratic, ranging from Rp 7,000 to Rp 9,000 per kilogram. It can increase to Rp 9,000 per kg at certain seasons, such as before Idul Fitri. The farmers did not have many options when middlemen set low prices.

Innovation is needed to create added value. In addition, marketing must be improved so that farmers enjoy the production of their own palm sugar, not middlemen.

That problem troubled Dadeng, a village chaperone at the time. He discussed it with Mugilancar village head Jenal. They agreed that product innovation was needed, so that the palm sugar would not only be sold in the form of bars. Supply chains also had to be changed immediately.

"Innovation is needed to create added value. In addition, marketing must be improved so that farmers enjoy the production of their own palm sugar, not middlemen," he said.

In order for the idea not to freeze up, the village administration of Gelaranyar held a training course on palm sugar processing for 45 residents in 2017. They were guided by a team from the Manpower Ministry that provided training to develop the potential of rural communities in Indonesia.

Now, some farmers no longer sell palm sugar in the form of bars. The sugar is processed into semut aren (powder), a product favored by food processing businesses in several regions.

Not enough

Innovation alone was not enough. The village\'s key products, such as palm sugar, also needed to be sold outside the village. A manual marketing approach would not be effective, because Gelaranyar village is far from the government and business center.

The road to the village is narrow and full of potholes. In the rainy season, the road becomes muddy, making it more difficult to pass. The distance to the highway is about 6 kilometers, and Gelaranyar is about 63 km from the administration center of Cianjur regency and 93 km from the provincial center of West Java.

Realizing that his village was "locked up" by inadequate access, Dadeng looked to social media as a solution. Since the end of 2017, the BUMDes has marketed the village’s superior products through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

"The impact is extraordinary. We can connect with buyers from outside the village, even outside Cianjur," he said.

Social media not only makes it easy for farmers to sell their palm sugar. They also enjoy higher prices. The BUMDes buys farmers\' sugar at Rp 11,000 per kg in the form of sugar bars. Meanwhile, if processed into powder, it costs Rp 14,000 per kg.

It turns out that working in villages can earn you more money than working abroad. This was unimaginable in the past.

The new market access has put a broad smile on many a farmer’s face. Sopiah, 50, who worked as a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia from 2002 to 2005, has felt the effect. With six palm trees, she and her husband, Ruslan, 54, produce at least 10 kg of palm sugar per day. If they sell sugar bars to BUMDes, their income is Rp 770,000-Rp 980,000 per week, or Rp 3 million-Rp 3.9 million per month. As a migrant worker, she had only been paid Rp 1.2 million per month.

"It turns out that working in villages can earn you more money than working abroad. This was unimaginable in the past," said Sopiah, while grinding palm sugar using coconut shells to turn it into sugar powder.

Dadeng graduated from Pasundan University\'s Department of Civic Education, Bandung, in 2009, but he had intended to serve in his village ever since starting college in 2004, hence he did not hesitance to return home. For him, the village is like a treasure. Its potential must continue to be explored for the welfare of the villagers.

He began his career as a teacher at state junior high school SMP 2 Pagelaran in Gelaranyar. "At that time, some of the teachers at the school came from outside the village. If they retire, of course it is not easy to find teachers who want to work in remote villages like this," he said.

In 2017, the husband of Siti Hodijah became a chaperone for Gelaranyar village. He was tasked with assisting the village administration in empowering the community and developing BUMDes. A year later, Dadeng became the head of the hamlet of Sukamulya.

He knows the people intimately, including their grievances.

That moment became an opportunity for him to look at various problems, then find answers. He realized the immense potential of palm sugar for Gelaranyar, because sugar palms do not depend on seasons, so their product can be produced every day.

Dadeng said Gelaranyar produces about 2.5 tons of palm sugar per week. However, only 1 ton per week is marketed by BUMDes. The proceeds from the sale provide income of around Rp 10 million per month.

However, some sugar palm farmers are still trapped in debt after accepting funds from loan sharks, who will take the farmers’ money during harvest time. However, Dadeng is optimistic that the role of loan sharks will diminish as people become increasingly empowered.

By noon, the stock inspection was over, with results that left room for improvement. Dadeng returned to his house. Palm sugar is neatly arranged in the kitchen, but one specific plastic container is empty, because, among the dozens sugar farmers in the village, only three routinely process their product into powder.

Dadeng Sutaryadi Irawan

Born: Cianjur, 4 April 1986

Education: Civic Education at Pasundan University (graduated in 2009)

Career:

-- Teacher at state high school SMP 2 Pagelaran, Cianjur (2009-2016)

-- Chaperone for Gelaranyar village (2017)

-- Head of Sukamulya hamlet, Gelaranyar village (2018)

-- Gelaranyar village secretary (January-May 2019)

-- Director of BUMDes Mugilancar, Gelaranyar village (June 2019-present)

Wife: Siti Hodijah, 31

Children:

-- Abraham Dzakir Khafadi Irawan (5 years old)

-- Asya Qiana Khaliqa Irawan (3 months)

Editor:

naranasrullah

kompascetak dadeng sutaryadi