By Akfa Nasrulhak – detikFinance
Jakarta – The Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Ministry of PDTT) together with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) checks and validates the Self-sustain Village Development Program (PPMD) in Abrose Village, Ransiki District, South Manokwari, West Papua.
Head of Sub-directorate of Technology Efficiency (Kasubdit TTG), Directorate of Natural Resource Utilization (PSDA) of the Directorate General of Community Development and Empowerment (DG PPMD) of PDTT Ministry of Agriculture, Anastutik Wiryaningsih revealed that the PPMD activities have been implemented since March 2017 and will end on 31 December 2018.
“In this period we carried out capacity building and community empowerment programs, especially in agriculture,” Anastutik said in a written statement on Thursday (11/08/2018).
Anastutik revealed that there were 13 districts where 6 districts in Papua and 7 districts in West Papua were targeted by the program and received funding in the form of grants and loans of USD 8.4 million from IFAD.
“The community is given training starting from cultivation or processing of chocolate or cocoa, seaweed, vanilla, to empowering women. The community is also taught to save their income and so on,” said Anastutik.
According to Anastutik, the year before PPDM came in, the community in Abrose complained about their cocoa plants being affected by tree diseases.
“Because the treatment were not good, cocoa has been stricken with disease. We gave proper treatment exercises. Now their cocoa is healthy and produce more,” she said.
PPDM has also succeeded in helping farmers to send 4 tons of seaweed from Fak Fak to Surabaya.
“In Fak Fak, seaweed is only valued at Rp. 6,000 per kg, in Surabaya the price can reach Rp. 18,000 per kg,” she said.
During the visit, Anastutik also took time to meet one of the 30 residents who were members of the PPMD program, Helena (60). Wearing a shirt with a picture of Monas and Bajaj bearing the Jakarta sign, Helena came out to meet the group from the Ministry of PDTT and IFAD in her newly built house in the middle of lush cocoa plants around her.
The location is not far from the Village Development and Community Empowerment Service (PPMK) of Ransiki District which is also the Capital of South Manokwari Regency, West Papua. Precisely in the village or village of Abrose which is on the roadside towards the city of Manokwari.
Helena, who was accompanied by Village Assistant Abrose Abdul Rahim Arkan Semoryai, said that the group’s success with the Independent Village Development Program (PPDM) was initiated by the Ministry of Defense PDTT and IFAD.
“We were taught how to take care of our cocoa, to cut, harvest, store and to dry,” said Helena.
Meanwhile, IFAD’s Country Program Officer Anissa Lucky Pratiwi said, in addition to conducting training to improve community skills in agriculture, IFAD is also starting to focus on how people in these villages can sell their produces.
“After they produce products in the agricultural sector, we also begin to think about how they can sell them to improve the community’s economy,” said Anissa who has participated in community empowerment programs in Indonesia for approximately 8 years. .
Funds from IFAD are used to organize various trainings in agriculture from planting, harvesting, post-harvest production, to marketing agricultural products. To support the training, various interactive and interesting modules are made that are easy to use
News Source: Detik Finance
Pic. Source: Flickr
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