Post-Harvest Management Effort to Increase Product Value

 

For more than 9 years, IDEP Foundation continues to develop activities and training about environmental conservation efforts in Yehembang Kauh village. This continuity effort implemented with permaculture and disaster management approach based on community. Therefore, the first step to creating a village with community resilience based on permaculture is to develop a family garden.

 

 

Participant make banana chips in Yehembang Kauh, on March 24, 2021 (Photo: Wahyu Permana)

 

Certainly, the presence of family garden was projected to fulfill the basic needs of the family. This productive garden always helps family needs maximally, so not seldom if there are excess yields. Then, depart from that situation, IDEP with Basebali are trying to facilitate the local community in Yehembang Kauh village to become more resilient and sustainable.

 

Manage Excess Yields

Through Family Scholarship and Forest Temple Agroforestry with Sosio-Cultural approach, IDEP Foundation held a training about post-harvest products. This production training isn’t just to cultivate yields so that yields didn’t waste. But more than that, it is to make community can increase better value to their product.

 

Presentation about post-harvest (Photo: Wahyu Permana)

 

The products that generated later are the product in accordance with community local’s demand. Therefore, IDEP collaborates with village-owned enterprises (Bumdes) in Yehembang Kauh and Basebali to held training on Wednesday, March 24, 2021 until Thursday, March 25, 2021.

 

This training held in Training Centre Basebali and attended by 30 families. Those family also the beneficiary of family garden accompaniment. The participants are dominated by mothers that really interest in product value effort from their garden. Those enthusiasms didn’t close awareness of health protocols. So to cut off the spread of Covid-19, IDEP split this training into two sessions, then each session attended by 15 participants. Not just that, this training also equipped with the mask on and hand sanitizer.

 

Post-Harvest Management Training

 

Local product processing training held in some steps, with giving some knowledge and direct practice about post-harvest management, including packaging and branding. In these steps, participants invited to a discussion about their problems during production. This process increasingly opens the opportunity for IDEP and Basabali to understand the problems and news of the local community. 

 

 

producing dry seasonings in Yehembang Kauh (Photo: Wahyu Permana)

 

Moreover, participants also were given some solution recommendations about their problems during production. Those solutions also applied in direct practice sessions. During practice, participants allowed to make minimal four types of product, such as dry seasonings, coconut oil, vegetable chips, and banana chips.

 

Preparing ingredient to make dry seasonings (Photo: Wahyu Permana)

 

The resulting products of this training are products that demanded and could be raw foods for the local community. But, in venture activity, produce a product isn’t enough. We need some knowledge about financial management and the venture itself. Furthermore, packaging and branding also become important factors in the marketing process.

 

yield products from participants (Photo: Wahyu Permana)

 

Therefore, this training also brings information about forms of small venture and financial management planning, to make the community’s venture become sustainable. After understand about planning and management system, the next presentation are how to packaging and branding to make demand product. Participants also invited to make packaging which catchy and efficient, so it can implement in the local community’s venture.

 

Continuity of Community’s Venture

 

Skills that participants--who dominated by females--got after join this training aren’t just new experiences, but new business opportunities. Therefore, after training finished, participants will be allowed to choose minimal two products that will be their planning venture. The participant will continue its process in their house with the hope that the venture will sustainable and make a resilient family. (Gd)