Depok, August 12th, 2023. Through Presidential Regulation (PERPRES) No. 63 Year 2020, Belu Regency of East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT) is designated as one of the 62 underdeveloped regions in Indonesia. Belu Regency has an area of 1,284.94 km2 consisting of 12 districts, 12 sub-districts and 69 villages, and is directly adjacent to the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste.
Belu Regency has considerable potential in the fisheries sector, but has not yet been developed into marketable products. The catch obtained by the fishery product processing group is sold directly without being processed first. Therefore, the Community Service Team (pengmas) of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) Universitas Indonesia (UI) saw an promising opportunity to develop a variety of fishery-based processed food products and could become signature products of Belu Regency.
FEB UI Community Service Team Leader Dr. Rifelly Dewi Astuti, SE., MM., said that geographically, the location of Belu Regency, which is directly adjacent to the Democratic State of Timor Leste, serves as both opportunities and challenges. Belu Regency is a transit area for travelers or business people from Timor Leste to Kupang, or vice versa. In addition, in the capital of Belu Regency, namely Atambua, there is an airport that operates ATR aircraft to Kupang.
“Based on this, Belu’s typical processed fish food products have the opportunity to be developed as souvenirs from Belu. The development of this signature product is expected to increase the income of Belu Regency’s residences, thus an increase in the community’s economy can be achieved as stated in the regional goals of Belu Regency,” said Dr. Rifelly.
This community service activity was attended by 80 participants and the training was carried out with eight groups of women who do the processing of fishery products from the villages of Jenilu, Kenebubi and Silawan, Belu Regency, NTT. The training provided by the FEB UI community service team was related to business management; including entrepreneurship, business licensing, halal certification, production, digital marketing and marketing, business finance, and household finance.
The event, which took place on 1st-4th of August 2023, consisted of a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the Fisheries Service, the Small and Medium Enterprises Cooperative Service, the Regional Secretariat, and the Regional Development Planning Agency for Belu Regency, NTT. At this stage, an identification of the level of understanding and ability of the group was also done. Afterwards, the community service team compiled training modules and material preparation which involved the entire team at the UI Depok Campus.
The most important stage was the implementation of the training, including pre and post evaluation. The training was carried out using an interactive method, using practices that involve participants actively. In the training sessions, participants also learn to compile designs, create social media accounts, and product promotion content. After the training, assistance was provided to groups to practice the results of the training, monitoring and evaluation of business groups, which aimed to determine the sustainability of the program in the future.
“We have problems with a lack of understanding regarding marketing and the capability of the Human Resources (HR) group in managing the business. Currently Belu’s signature processed food products are fish floss and dried fish,” said Adriana Funan, a partner in the FEB UI community service event which was entitled “The Movement for Development of Fishery Processed Food Products as Regional Signature Products in an Effort to Accelerate the Alleviation of Disadvantaged Areas in Belu Regency, NTT”. He represented other beneficiaries who felt helped by the presence of the FEB UI community service team in providing solutions to problems for the community at the activity location.
“The community service activities do not stop here, thanks to UI’s collaboration with PT Pertamina and the Pertamina Foundation, in the next program we will provide assistance with production facilities or equipment. This community service is also in line with two points of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, namely SDG 1 and 8,” said Rr. Ratih Dyah Kusumastuti, Ph.D, a member of the team.
