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“Tak ada yang instan atau gampang dalam sebuah usaha pemberdayaan, semua perlu proses dan kesabaran yang ekstra.”
Setidaknya hal itulah yang dirasakan oleh Suherman sejak ia menjadi Relawan Inspirasi (Fasilitator Desa Berdaya) di tanah kelahirannya, Desa Sahkuda Bayu, Kec. Gunung Malela, Kab. Simalungun, Sumatera Utara. Meski berada di tanah kelahiran, tapi tetap saja segala penyesuaian perlu dilakukan demi menuai hasil yang optimal.
Desa Sahkuda Bayu sendiri terletak di antara perlintasan Pematang Siantar menuju arah Danau Toba. Tak heran jika jalan aspal yang melintasinya sudah bagus dan selalu ramai oleh lalu lalang kendaraan. Selain itu, ada aliran Sungai Sah Bolon yang membelah desa, tempat sebagian warga Sahkuda Bayu menggantungkan hidupnya menjadi petani ikan.
“Warga di sini sudah terlalu cinta dengan ternak ikan, sehingga ketika datang tawaran untuk menanam padi pun mereka tolak, meski beberapa waktu lalu desa ini sempat berjaya dengan kebun pepaya sebelum kemudian terkena hama virus,” ujar Herman.
Saat ini Herman mendampingi beberapa usaha pemberdayaan bagi warga Desa Sahkuda Bayu, salah satunya usaha tepung mocaf (modified cassava lour), yaitu tepung yang terbuat dari singkong. Usaha tepung mocaf ini adalah usaha yang sudah ada sebelumnya, sehingga Herman tinggal meneruskan, merapikan manajemennya serta memberikan tambahan modal hasil bantuan dari Rumah Zakat. Meski ternyata merapikan manajemen yang sudah ada tidak semudah yang dibayangkan. Tetap perlu penyesuaian dan strategi
baru agar usaha tersebut makin berkembang serta lebih menghasilkan.
“Produksi tepung mocaf ini memang sudah berjalan sebelumnya, tapi masih stagnan. Manajemen dan pencatatan keuangannya juga belum rapi, dan itu menjadi PR yang sangat lumayan buat saya,” ujar Herman.
Namun begitu, ia bersyukur, bahwa apa yang dilakukannya di Sahkuda Bayu cukup berdampak bagi geliat ekonomi warganya. Banyak warga yang kemudian menanam singkong karena pasti akan dibeli dengan harga yang lumayan sebagai bahan pembuatan tepung mocaf. Bahkan ada beberapa warga yang menjadi pemasok tetap singkong, sehingga ketika bahan baku singkong sedang susah, produksi tepung mocaf bisa tetap berjalan.
Untuk pembuatan tepung mocaf ini, sehari diperlukan 100 kg singkong mentah yang kemudian menghasilkan 20 kg tepung mocaf. Jika tak ada kendala cuaca, maka produksi bisa selesai dalam sehari. Namun jika musim hujan, maka singkong yang telah menjadi gaplek dan siap dijemur langsung dialihkan ke oven untuk dikeringkan.
Tanamkan minat membaca sejak dini “Kalau berbicara kendala pasti ada saja, kendala keuangan juga pernah. Tapi kendala yang pasti ya seperti sekarang yaitu musim hujan. Singkong yang sudah kami jadikan gaplek susah kering, bahkan seringkali basah kembali karena kehujanan,” ujar Supiyati, salah satu dari anggota kelompok tani pembuatan tepung mocaf.
Selain kendala tetap berupa cuaca yang mengganggu proses produksi, usaha tepung mocaf ini dulu juga mengalami kendala pemasaran. Awalnya tepung mocaf ini hanya dijual di sekitar Sahkuda Bayu, tapi setelah dilakukan pendampingan, Herman segera merapikan kemasan, mengawasi proses produksi dengan ketat dan yang jelas meluaskan pemasaran dengan mengikutkannya ke berbagai pameran UKM dan bazar di ibu kota provinsi. Rencananya tepung mocaf ini juga akan dijual secara online agar wilayah pemasarannya semakin luas.
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Lailatul Istikhomah[:en]“There is nothing instant or easy in an empowerment effort, all need a process and extra patience.”
At least that was what Suherman felt since he became an Inspiring Volunteer (Empowered Village Facilitator) in his homeland, Sahkuda Bayu Village, Kec. Gunung Malela, Kab. Simalungun, North Sumatra. Even though he is in the birthplace, all adjustments need to be done to reap optimal results.
Sahkuda Bayu village itself is located between the Pematang Siantar crossing towards the direction of Lake Toba. No wonder if the asphalt road that crosses it is good and always crowded by passing vehicles. In addition, there is the Sah Bolon River which divides the village, where some residents of Sahkuda Bayu depend their lives to become fish farmers.
“The people here are too in love with fish, so they refused to come when the offer to plant rice, even though some time ago this village had triumphed with papaya gardens before being exposed to virus pests,” Herman said.
Herman is currently assisting several empowerment efforts for the residents of Sahkuda Bayu Village, one of which is the mocaf flour business (modified cassava lour), which is flour made from cassava. This mocaf flour business is a pre-existing business, so Herman just went on, tidying up his management and providing additional capital from the assistance of Rumah Zakat. Although it turns out that tidying up existing management is not as easy as one might imagine. Still need adjustments and strategies new so that the business grows and produces more.
“This mocaf flour production has already been running before, but it’s still stagnant. The management and financial records are not yet neat, and it has become a very good homework for me, “Herman said.
However, he was grateful, that what he did at Sahkuda Bayu had quite an impact on the economic stretch of his citizens. Many residents then plant cassava because it will definitely be bought at a reasonable price as an ingredient for making mocaf flour. In fact, there are some residents who are permanent suppliers of cassava, so that when the cassava raw materials are in trouble, the production of mocaf flour can continue.
For the manufacture of mocaf flour, 100 kg of raw cassava a day is needed which then produces 20 kg of mocaf flour. If there are no weather constraints, the production can be finished in a day but if the rainy season, then cassava which has become cassava and ready to be dried in the sun is immediately diverted to the oven to be dried.
Embed interest in reading from an early age “If there is a problem, there are certainly financial constraints. But a definite obstacle is like the rainy season. The cassava that we have made cassava is hard to dry, often wet again due to rain, “said Supiyati, one of the members of the farmer group making mocaf flour.
In addition to the obstacles that remain in the form of weather that disrupts the production process, this mocaf flour business also experienced marketing problems. Initially this mocaf flour was only sold around Sahkuda Bayu, but after being assisted, Herman immediately tidied up the packaging, monitored the production process strictly and clearly expanded marketing by including it to various UKM exhibitions and bazaars in the provincial capital. It is planned that the mocaf flour will also be sold online so that the marketing area will be wider.
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