The 3T (Frontier, Outermost, and Least Developed Regions) Social Services Program (KKN) of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) included a program in the Indonesia-Malaysia border. In the island of Sebatik, students from the Service for the Country Generation (GBN) 3T KKN UMY created a breakthrough by using the natural potential of Bambangan village, West Sebatik Subdistrict.
When contacted by a team of journalists from UMY’s Office of Human Relations and Protocol on Saturday (7/9), Muh. Idham stated that Bambangan village has a lot of potential, particularly in agriculture. “The natural potential in this village is in agriculture, primarily peppers. The abundance of pepper in this region allows locals to afford their daily needs,” Idham revealed.
“Peppers are the most promising plant after palm trees. Unfortunately, the management in the village had not been optimized, which negatively impacted the village’s income. One of the causes seems to be the lack of knowledge regarding management and marketing of pepper products,” he added.
Idham stated that a breakthrough to help the locals was found by KKN GBN UMY. They trained and educated the locals regarding pepper cultivation. “The people of this village still have some obstacles in pepper cultivation, especially their lack of understanding regarding the use of the tools that the local government has provided. On this occasion, the team from KKN GBN UMY guided and educated the locals on how to use the available tools so they can understand and use the tools properly,” Idham added.
“The locals performed two attempts. Their first attempt in using the tools were successful because they could understand and implement what they have been taught. On the second attempt, almost 80 of the pepper farmers could use the tools and the output in form of Sebatik pepper products were purchased on the spot at Rp.8.000/40 grams. This program has a bright future as a new source of income for the people in Bambangan village, we just need to figure out the management system and how to get a product permit for Sebatik Pepper Powder (Bulatik) so it could be distributed and imported,” Idham closed (CDL)
