Driver of Village Economy

KOMPAS/MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Rasim

At 7:45 a.m., the ground and grass were still wet from dew and the rain from the night before. The fragrance of palm sugar was pleasant. Shops and stalls begna to open their doors. The land owned by the village administration, which seemed haunted and neglected, is now alive after Bulak Barokah Agrotourism was founded under the leadership of Rasim, 42.

"I was inspired by Bung Karno\'s words about a self-sufficient village. If a village wants to advance, it must have its own business," Rasim, the village head of Langgongsari in Cilongok district, Banyumas, Central Java, said on Tuesday (20/2).

Rasim used the village fund, which most village heads use to build roads, to develop agrotourism as the village’s key business and to strengthen village-owned enterprises. After it was launched in November 2017, the Bulak Barokah Agrotourism program is now starting to attract tourists. They come from nearby cities, including Purwokerto, Purbalingga, Banjarnegara and Banyumas.

Langgongsari village received Rp 315 million in village funds in 2015, Rp 600 million in 2016 and Rp 922 million in 2017. Rasim used the fund to develop various business sectors, ranging from agriculture to plantation, fishery to animal husbandry, and trade to coconut sugar processing. Later, he expanded into tourism. The village\'s efforts are all located in an integrated site called the Agrowisata Bulak Barokah.

The agrotourism area has 24 coconut sugar processing facilities that are located centrally, for easy access to buyers. These small facilities are also cleaner than the areas used to process coconut sugar at the villagers’ homes.

"It is expected that in the next 10-15 years that the daily production of export-quality coconut sugar in this village will reach 10 tons," Rasim said. Langgongsari village currently has around 450 coconut sugar producers with a collective output yield of 2-3 tons per day.

Aside from the coconut sugar processing center, 26 kiosks were built for use as local eateries, each measuring 3 meters by 4 meters and leased for Rp 600,000 per year. There are also husbandry farms with 30 rabbits, 16 cows, 3 buffaloes and 25 goats of various breeds, such as the Texel and Garut sheep. Thousands of catfish, tilapia and patin (iridiscent shark) are also cultivated at fishery ponds.

The agrotourism site is lush with a variety of fruiting hardwood trees, consisting of 650 durian trees, 400 petai (stinky bean) trees and snakefruit trees, as well as sugarcane and crop vegetables. "We manage all the potential of our village," Rasim said proudly.

Trader

Since an early age, Rasim has felt a kinship with gardening and farming because he frequently helped his father grow rice and vegetables in Karanggude village, Karanglewas, Banyumas. After graduating from SMAN 1 Ajibarang senior high school in 1997, he switched and become a trader.

His business developed and expanded until 2015, when he formed a business called Simra Perkasa. "Simra Perkasa comes from reversing my name. Ra-Sim became Sim-Ra,” Rasim said.

Simra employed 100 people, most of who were school dropouts. Each employee made a sales turnover of up to Rp 30 million, with the sale area stretching to Ajibarang, Purwojati and Pekuncen. However, business started to decline in 2009 due to tight competition in the trade sector.

Rasim is still trying to sustain the business to support his family and his three remaining employees. His experience in managing a farm and a business makes Rasim good at seeing opportunities. In 2013, when he was elected head of Langgongsari village – his wife\'s hometown – he knew what he would do for the community.

He regularly stayed in touch with each villager and made home visits. He knew the activity would take a lot of energy, because the village population consisted of 7,600 people from 2,350 households. However, this was the key to him establishing a close relationship with the village residents. He also developed relationships with stakeholders and other parties who could help him develop the village.

Two years later, his efforts paid off. Langgongsari village was provided with clean water access through cooperation with state-forestry company Perhutani and the Cipta Karya Office. The 13-kilometer pipeline from the Gununglurah source instantly resolved the clean water shortage, especially during the dry season. The clean water supply and distribution is managed by the village’s Tirta Nala company.

Rasim continues to use the village fund for productive purposes, such as developing village-owned companies and conducting training programs. He believes that a village without an active economy cannot become independent, and that such a village will continue to be dependent on government funding.

To realize his vision for the village’s economy, Rasim is urging residents to manage a 50-hectare land. Rasim wants the village land to be optimized as a coconut plantation. At present, 600 quality coconut seedlings are already growing on 2 hectares of the village land.

"This land is a rain-fed field. The good-quality coconut trees are expected to increase the production of coconut sugar. Sugarcane will be planted among the coconut trees and there will also be a cattle ranch," said Rasim, pointing to a row of coconut seedlings spaced 10 meters apart.

Rasim\'s plan was not an overnight success, as villagers took over part of the land to grow cassava. The villagers also objected to, and even opposed, Rasim’s plan for an integrated farm.

Rasim bore out the rejection patiently. He went to neighborhood meetings to talk about the benefits of developing an integrated farm. He invited the neighborhood heads and youths to undertake a comparative study with other regions.

Most of all, he pointed out to the neighborhood heads, community leaders and residents that the village fund would be safe as long as it was not used for personal interests. In taking the long approach, the plan to develop an integrated farm and husbandry farm was finally realized.

So far, the village business Rasim initiated has not made much income. However, Rasim is optimistic that the 2019 village revenue would reach up to Rp 1 billion.

Rasim has provided an example of how village funds should be used for productive activities. For his initiative, Rasim was honored in 2018 by the Financial Services Authority as an Inspiring Figure of Financial Inclusion in developing village-owned companies. He accepted the award in Jakarta, directly from the hands of President Joko Widodo.

Rasim was also invited to speak on village funds management at the Presidential Advisory Council, and more importantly, Langgongsari village has become a training ground for a number of other village officials.

KOMPAS/MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

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Rasim

Born: Nov. 16, 1975, Banyumas

Wife: Setyaningrum, 38

Children: 3

Education: SDN 3 Karanggude State Elementary School; SMPN 4 Purwokerto State Junior High School; SMAN 1 Ajibarang State Senior High School

Occupation/Activities: Langgongsari village head, Cilongok district, Banyumas, 2013-2019

Awards: Winner of Village Planning and Development Competition in Banyumas Regency 2016 at the Development Show Festival; Inspiring Figure of Financial Inclusion2018, in the category of developing village-owned companies, awarded by the Financial Services Authority