The Uma Kokur Community is a village women's community located in Tanamanang Village, Pahunga Lodu District, East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara. A community based on its production activities, namely coconut planting and processing its derivative products. The development of the Uma Kokur women's community aims to improve the family economy by increasing and developing production capabilities, especially in producing coconut oil. Of course, in the midst of the increasingly widening palm oil market, and the loss of the existence of coconut oil as an alternative, the existence of the Uma Kokur community's efforts in coconut oil production is very important and has its own challenges to continue to develop. The Uma Kokur Community has 15 members who are dominated by women and housewives, synergizing with Walhi NTT to run the Nusantara Fund program entitled Building a Coconut Derivative Product Production Model. The program implemented in Tanamanang Village, Pahunga Lodu District, East Sumba Regency, NTT is carried out in three series of activities, namely:
- Production house construction
- Procurement of production equipment
- Training on making coconut oil
The program implementation process began through socialization carried out by Walhi NTT in November 2022 to the Uma Kokur community. A commitment to help and develop each other was obtained. The Uma Kokur community feels that support through the Nusantara Fund is very useful for improving the performance of the community in developing coconut oil production and hopes to also expand the area managed by the people, improve the economy and advance community skills.
The training begins with the delivery of material as well as practice in making coconut oil. Training is even carried out starting from peeling, squeezing, frying and filtering in packaging. As a result, the training successfully produced 100 liters of ready-to-eat coconut oil with a label in the name of Uma Kokur on the packaging. The training involved 15 female members of Uma Kokur. Meanwhile, apart from increasing abilities and skills through training, this program is also able to build production houses and procure coconut oil production equipment. The house and production equipment will be used by the Uma Kokur community in a sustainable manner to continue to increase its coconut oil production.
Implementation of activities achieved several achievements and impacts as follows:
- Availability of a production house and coconut oil production equipment which will be used intensively by the Uma Kokur community in producing coconut oil
- Increasing the ability and capacity of community members regarding the production of environmentally friendly coconut oil and an alternative to palm oil which dominates the market
- Improving the family economy of community members, and providing an example for the wider community. This achievement can at least be seen from the involvement of 15 community members in coconut oil making activities. While the indirect beneficiaries are 30 youth groups from Tanamanang Village and 50 family members of the Uma Kokur community.
The main obstacle and challenge that must be solved is the marketing of coconut oil products. In the midst of the dominance of factory-produced cooking oil with various bigger brands, community-produced coconut oil must be able to develop a wider market. We must promote through various media in order to compete in the market and continue to produce quality oil.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
| Our program will include: | Coconut Derivative Products in the Uma Kokur Community |
| Activity: | 1. Production house construction 2. Procurement of production equipment 3. Training on making coconut oil |
| Location: | Tanamanang Village, Pahunga Lodu District, East Sumba Regency, NTT |
| Implementation: | 01 to 31 December 2022 |
| Companion: | WALHI NTT |
| Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities: | Uma Kokur Community |
| keyword: | People's Management Area; Coconut oil; Local Products |
| Direct Funding: | IDR 49.435.000 |
| Nusantara Fund Long Term Targets: | Development of fair and sustainable production, distribution and consumption models in accordance with IPLC principles. |