INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LATEST TECHNOLOGY IN ENGINEERING,

MANAGEMENT & APPLIED SCIENCE (IJLTEMAS)

ISSN 2278-2540 | DOI: 10.51583/IJLTEMAS | Volume XIII, Issue VIII, August 2024

www.ijltemas.in Page 50

Increasing the Income of Coconut Farmers Through Community

Empowerment in Selayar Regency, Indonesia

Akhmad

1*

, Buyung Romadhoni

2

1

Abstract: Community empowerment is a process that becomes the starting point for community independence in order to

improve their own lives by using and accessing local resources as best as possible. This research aims to determine efforts to

empower coconut farmers in increasing the income of coconut farmers in. The research was conducted in Selayar Regency, South

Sulawesi Province. The population in this study were all coconut farmers in Selayar Regency. Data collection was carried out by

means of observation, in-depth interviews with coconut farmers who were selected as respondents. Data analysis was carried out

using descriptive analysis. The steps involved start from data collection, data reduction, data presentation and drawing

conclusions. The results of the research show that the forms of empowerment carried out by farmers include counseling and

training, but the results have not been optimal in increasing the income of coconut farmers in Selayar Regency. There are several

things that are obstacles in empowering coconut farmers, one of which is the lack of awareness of coconut farmers to innovate

processed coconut products, namely from processing ordinary copra into white copra. This is due to the limited competencies

population, earning foreign exchange through exports, providing industrial raw materials, increasing employment and business

opportunities, increasing regional income, alleviating poverty and encouraging the movement of other economic sectors (Fachry,

2012).

Agricultural products that can be used in the processing industry are coconut plants, namely sap produced from tapping the

flowers of coconut plants (Marlina. (2022). As a source of income, coconut plantations play a very big role because coconut

plants have the ability to produce continuously throughout the year and can be sold. to meet the needs of farming families

(Wijaya & Panji, 2009). According to the Central Statistics Agency, the area of coconut plantations in Indonesia in 2020 reached

3,396.8 thousand ha with total production reaching 2,811.9 thousand tons. Meanwhile, the area of coconut plantations in

Pekuncen District in in 2019 it reached 684.1 ha and total coconut production reached 4,213.7 tons (BPS, 2023).

Coconut is an important tropical plant for Asian and Pacific countries and has long been known by the Indonesian people. This

Selayar Regency is a district located in South Sulawesi Province with an area of 10,503.69 km² (land and sea area) and a

population of 139,145 people in 2022. Selayar Regency has 11 sub-districts and 88 villages. Apart from having high fisheries

potential, Selayar Regency also has agriculture and plantations and is a source of income for the majority of the population in this

area.

As an island region, Selayar Islands Regency is the largest coconut producer in South Sulawesi. As a people's plantation crop,

coconut trees grow throughout the Selayar Islands, from beaches to villages. This is what makes coconut one of Selayar's main

plantation commodities. In 2022, the area of coconut plantations will be 19,769.00 ha with total production of 26,734.16 tons.

According to its geographical location, more than 50% of plantation crops are used for planting coconuts.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LATEST TECHNOLOGY IN ENGINEERING,

MANAGEMENT & APPLIED SCIENCE (IJLTEMAS)

ISSN 2278-2540 | DOI: 10.51583/IJLTEMAS | Volume XIII, Issue VIII, August 2024

www.ijltemas.in Page 51

Copra itself is the main raw material for various other coconut derivative products. After the coconut is dry, the copra is extracted

to extract the oil and processed into various types of coconut derivative products. Such as crude coconut oil (CCO), fried coconut

need a development strategy to increase sales of copra products. Based on these considerations, this research aims to determine

the efforts made to empower coconut farmers in an effort to increase the income of the people of Selayar Islands Regency.

II. Literature review

Community empowerment

The concept of empowerment includes community development and community-based development. Related to this

understanding, it is necessary to first understand the meaning and significance of empowerment and community empowerment.

People who have achieved collective goals are empowered through their independence, in fact it is necessary to be more

empowered and other resources in order to achieve their goals without relying on help from external relationships (Friis & and

Deborah. 2012.; Suriyani at.al 2023)

The main aim of community empowerment is not to provide consumptive assistance to the community, but rather productive

Anelli 2004). This model is broader than just meeting basic needs or providing mechanisms to prevent further poverty processes,

so that community-based development using empowerment strategies will be more appropriate in changing community

conditions (Sedyastuti, 2018).

Empowerment comes from the word empowerment which means giving power because power is not only power but also power,

so the word power not only means being able, but also having power (Fenny & Very, 2015). Empowerment is an effort to provide

empowering power to society. Sumodi ningrat defines the existence of society as the individual's ability to be attached to society

in building community empowerment. Therefore, empowerment can be conveyed by gaining power and access to resources

(Najiati, 2005).

Community empowerment is a process that becomes the starting point for community independence in order to improve their

own lives by using and accessing local resources as best as possible. In other words, empowerment is the process of increasing

be prepared, firstly preparing the officers, namely community workers. Meanwhile, the second preparation is field preparation,

namely conducting a field feasibility study. (b) Assessment stage, at this stage the problems and resources owned by the client or

community are identified. This assessment can also be carried out using a SWOT, strength, weakness, opportunity, threat

assessment. (c) Program Planning Stage at this stage the change agent tries to look at the community to understand the problems

they face and tries to find solutions to these problems. (d) Action Plan Formulation Stage: At this stage, change agents in

community groups determine the programs and activities they will carry out to overcome existing problems. The officers and the

community formulate an action plan. (e) Program or Activity Implementation Stage: At this stage the change agent works

together with participants from community groups to implement the planned program. (f) Evaluation Stage, at this stage the

change agent together with participants from community groups supervises the program being implemented and supervises it

(Gunawan, (1999).

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LATEST TECHNOLOGY IN ENGINEERING,

MANAGEMENT & APPLIED SCIENCE (IJLTEMAS)

ISSN 2278-2540 | DOI: 10.51583/IJLTEMAS | Volume XIII, Issue VIII, August 2024

www.ijltemas.in Page 52

Apart from observation, researchers also used the interview method, namely by conducting direct questions and answers with 22

coconut farmers who were used as samples.

Data analysis

Data analysis was carried out descriptively qualitatively. What is meant by descriptive is to clearly describe or explain the actual

situation regarding the facts as the results of research conducted using the concept of interviews with respondents related to the

empowerment of coconut farmers in increasing community income in Selayar Regency. Data processing in this research was

carried out in 4 stages, namely data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions or verification

IV. Results and Discussion

General Description of Islands Regency

Selayar Islands Regency is a Regency located in South Sulawesi which has 11 sub-districts within it. 5 sub-districts are located on

Selayar Islands as of 2022 is 73,127. Meanwhile, according to the distribution of main employment opportunities, 3798% of the

population works in the Agriculture, Forestry, Hunting and Fishing sectors, while 10.13% work in the Processing Industry sector,

19.56%. And 42.45% usually work in the service sector (BPS, 2023).

The area of coconut plantations and coconut production in Selayar Selayar Regency in 2019-2022 can be seen in Table 1.

Tabel 1. Perkembangan Luas Areal dan Produksi Kelapa di Kabupaten Selayar

white copra. In general, existing coconut farmers generally process coconut seeds into copra.

The research results also show that the majority of people process coconut from their own coconut plantations. And the average

community has more than one coconut plantation. In the past, there were still many people who processed coconuts into coconut

oil and sold them in the market, but nowadays processing coconuts into coconut oil is rarely done by coconut farmers. Even if it

still exists, it is only for personal consumption and only a few sell it on the market, this is because there are already many factory

processed oils sold on the market and most consumers prefer to use this oil for daily use.

Coconut farmers generally process coconut by making it into smoked copra, namely drying it by roasting it over coals. Generally,

after the coconut has finished climbing, the coconut is then separated from the husks and then split in half, after which it is dried

on a roasting stove made of wood and bamboo which is made by the head farmer himself with sizes ranging from 2 x 2 meters to

even larger than That. After the coconut is dry, the coconut is pried open to separate it from the coconut shell, after that it is cut

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LATEST TECHNOLOGY IN ENGINEERING,

MANAGEMENT & APPLIED SCIENCE (IJLTEMAS)

ISSN 2278-2540 | DOI: 10.51583/IJLTEMAS | Volume XIII, Issue VIII, August 2024

www.ijltemas.in Page 53

coconuts which are supposed to be harvested once every four months can only be harvested when the next harvest season arrives,

in this case four months later after the coconuts can be harvested when they are four months old. This of course has an impact on

the results that farmers will get because the quality of the coconut will certainly decrease if it is old.

coconut seeds can produce 1 ton of copra.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LATEST TECHNOLOGY IN ENGINEERING,

MANAGEMENT & APPLIED SCIENCE (IJLTEMAS)

ISSN 2278-2540 | DOI: 10.51583/IJLTEMAS | Volume XIII, Issue VIII, August 2024

www.ijltemas.in Page 54

The following is the difference in income obtained by coconut farmers from processing ordinary copra and white copra:

produce around 7.5 tons of copra on average or 1 ton of coconut can produce 400 coconut seeds. So the gross income for ordinary

copra is multiplied by the current highest price for public copra sales, namely Rp. 650 thousand per ton so that farmers receive

fumigation, where the selling price is for This method is the same as smoked copra. Apart from that, coconut farmers find it easier

to process smoked copra, namely when they want to buy coconuts per seed from people who don't want to process their coconuts,

coconut farmers can process smoked copra in the coconut seller's garden. So most coconut farmers still choose to process smoked

copra even though the selling price is low and the profits they get are small, they feel that it is better than not processing it at all.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LATEST TECHNOLOGY IN ENGINEERING,

MANAGEMENT & APPLIED SCIENCE (IJLTEMAS)

ISSN 2278-2540 | DOI: 10.51583/IJLTEMAS | Volume XIII, Issue VIII, August 2024

www.ijltemas.in Page 55

products that can provide added economic value such as pure oil, culinary delights. food, and coconut cakes and other processed

products.