Sustainable Cocoa Production Program (SCPP) | Southeast Sulawesi

#4/SCPP-SULAWESI TENGGARA/4/2018

KABAR KAKAO

Scaling Up Amolulu People’s Economy through Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA)

Talinduka is now an Open Defecation Free (ODF)Village

The Enthusiastic Youth of Atolanu

The 4th edition of Kabar Kakao is focusing on the implementation of the Cocoa Life program in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Young people in Kolaka Timur are very enthusiastic to learn how to produce compost as potential business. Meanwhile, in Kolaka Timur, Talinduka awarded as an Open Defecation Free (ODF) village where the community commit to change their habit and start to build and use toilet for better sanitation. Cocoa Life is not only encouraging young people to stay in the village and improving community health standard but also increasing the awareness of commu-nal financing mechanism through VSLA (Village Saving and Loan Association). Mr. Jalil from Kolaka Timur is thanking his community group as it is easier for him to save and borrow money with a lower interest rate.

verification of “Open Defecatation Free” in the village

Talinduka is now an Open Defecation Free (ODF) Village

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By Daniel Kapong, Community Development Coordinator of Wahana Visi Indonesia

Mr. Mappera (50 years) was constructing septic tank at his backyard using

a ring mold

Septic tank construction at backyard using a ring mold

Talinduka is one among 12 villages in Dangia, Kolaka Timur district in Southeast Sulawesi province where Cocoa Life program has been implemented since 2017. In a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) activities con-ducted in March 2017, there were 15 households with no toilets in their house. Thus, the community developed a Community Action Plan (CAP) to solve the problem. A discussion was held together with the District Public Health Office, CBTS (Community Based Total Sanita-tion) facilitators, Puskesmas and Talinduka village ad-ministrators. The meeting agreed to initiate CBTS and to provide training to construct toilet.

The CBTS initiative was carried out in Talinduka on July 27th 31st, 2017. These activities involving multi-stake-holders of the village, such as village administrators, village chief, midwives, religious leaders, youth leaders and Posyandu cadres. There were 28 participants, 17 males and 11 females. This initiative was supported by Dangia Puskesmas and CBTS facilitators from Kolaka

open spaces. Further, as to claim the ODF status, verifi-cation is needed. The verification team was established and obtained a decree from the Dangia Sub-district ad-ministrator. The team consisted of Puskesmas, midwive, the hamlet chiefs and youth representatives. They were also trained by the CBTS facilitators to comprehensively understand the program before conducting their verifi-cation.

The verification process was implemented for almost 1 month. The results then presented in front of the District Public Health Office of Kolaka Timur, the village admin-istrator, and the head of the Puskesmas to ensure the validity and its accountability. As of the Public Health Office of Kolaka Timur and the village head approved the verification data, it has brought toilets to the house of 174 households and subsequently changed their be-havior.

In commemoration to the achievement, Kolaka Timur Public Health Office prepared an award signed by Kola-ka Timur Regent claiming that Talinduka is now an ODF village and 100% of its community has changed their old habit of open defecation. This award was presented at the celebration of Indonesia National Health Day on 13 November 2017. Following this award, the program planned to conduct a declaration of ODF village togeth-er with the entire Talinduka community. This activity is aimed to maintain their ODF behavioural change.

Timur District Health Office. The village chief is very much committed, with support from many stakeholders to turn Talinduka into an Open Defecation Free village by the end of 2017.

During the series of CBTS initiatives, the proj-ect gathered 22 head of households to sign a Social Contract that they pledge to build their toilets. Those toilets were constructed in a team with support from the village committee that was specifically established for this program.

Subsequently after the CBTS initiatives, moni-toring and training of toilet constructions were conducted. The monitoring report showed there are 37 families in Talinduka did not have la-trines. The construction training involving rep-resentatives of Puskesmas in Kolaka Timur, the Public Health office, military force (TNI) and hamlet heads of Talinduka village. This training

helped participants to create construction budget plans. The participants identified the cost to build one simple toilet was IDR800,000 (USD 58.16). Puskesmas and village administrators verified those 37 households within 4 months.

In order to become an ODF village(Open Def-ecation Free), 100% of the community have to change their habis or urinating and defecating in

Scaling Up Amolulu People’s Economy through Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA)By Aswin Hasanuddin, Field Facilitator of Wahana Visi Indonesia

Amolulu village is located in Uluiwoi, Kolaka Timur district in the Southeast Sulawesi Prov-ince of Indonesia, and inhabited by no less than 600 people. Approximately 85% of the Amolulu people are cocoa, pepper, pathcouli and some secondary crops farmers. Only 15% of them work for the formal sector. This village has major problem in road infrastructure; their roads are in a bad condition so it is difficult and taking more time to reach the area. Thus, with this difficult access, they are pretty much lagged behind in terms of knowledge and other infor-mation. Additionally, they have little knowledge

about how to manage their money. They often fail to fullfill their family needs due to poor financial management.

The Cocoa Life Program, implemented by Swisscon-tact and Wahana Visi Indonesia, started their work in Amolulu in 2016. Around this time, they initiated a Community Action Plan for the neighbouring village, Porabua. They trained the villagers on planning their finance together with the other household members. The Amolulu community did not have the habit of sav-ing some of their income for any unpredictable events or incidents. The training were also introducing them to the importance of having this particular habit. After a series of the training, the Amolulu community asked Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) to facilitatethe estab-lishement of a saving and loan group. This group is expected to give them an easy access to save, even a small amount of money, and to borrow with a lower interest rate.

VSLA in Amolulu Village, Kolaka Timur, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

“We did not know anything about managing and saving our money. But after participating in some of Cocoa Life program facilitated by the Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) we feel motivated to learn more about managing our household economy,” said Pak Jalil as a member of Community Devel-opment Committee (CODEC) Amolulu.

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By December 2017, 15 VSLA groups were formed in 10 villages, involving 525 people. The budget accumulated in the program is more than IDR 30 million (USD 2,181).

After a few meetings, the members feel the bene-fits of joining the VSLA. It helped them when they need money for their childrens’ school fees, as a fund source to start their small ventures or for wed-ding ceremony. Before joining the VSLA they used to go to a cooperative in Uluiwoi, especially during the infavorable farming season. They stopped go-ing and borrowing money from this cooperative since they became the Amolulu VSLA members. Pak Jalil adds, ”This VSLA is different compare to that cooperative. It is easier because we do not need to put any collateral to borrow money. All we need is group approval and commitment.”

”It is very good that we can save some money because one day it will help us in the difficult time with such affordable interest rate” says Ibu Gun-awati. Knowing how the VSLA groups have been benefitting their members, some people from Amolulu then committed to established the third VSLA group with 15 female members.

Bapak Sarip, the chief of Amolulu village states ”As the village administrator I feel this is a great program. Amolulu people can get fund support for their small business by saving their own mon-ey. I can see this is a community based teamwork. Some of them maybe wanted to start their own business but limited by the lack or even no fund at all. By joining the group they can get help and improve their economy. I hope this program will keep on running and progressing. My apprecia-tion for all the group members. And I am surprised that we have the third group already. Village ad-ministrator team is thinking of incorporating the program into the Village Annual Budget (APB-Des), to combine it with the village owned enter-prise (Bumdes). We will be preparing the techni-cal references for this. I will recommend people to etsablished at least 4-5 VSLAs in Amolulu. I want Amolulu to become a pilote for VSLA programme.”

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”Individually it was almost impossible for us to go to a bank to make our saving if we did not carry a huge amount of money. With this group we can start saving from only IDR 50,000 (USD 3.50). The interest rate for the loan is also low.” (Ibu Gunawati, leader of the VSLA, also the wife to the Amolulu village chief)

VSLA regular meeting attended by member

The Enthusiastic Youth of AtolanuBy Nur Yasni, Regional Program Manager Swisscontact

Although it only has 10 members, each member stated that they get the benefit of joining the group and its activities. They also put on high hope for future development of the group. One of the mem-ber mentioned that, “As long as I live here in this village, I will keep participating in this youth pro-gram.” (Gunawan, 18, Member)

Another member also added, “My parents are very supportive and wants me to gain some skills and knowledge so that I can contribute to the vil-lage. I am very happy making compost and learn-ing about leadership with all my friends. This is an unforgettable experience.” (Liska Bahtiar, 20, Treasurer). Liska’s dream is to build a bigger and more solid team to contribute to her village. She also wants to give a good example to the other young generations in the village by working more to draw their attention toward the group and its ac-tivities.

The youth group of Atolanu has run for less than a year, but their enthusiastic and significant role in the community has been recognized by many. Mukrin, for example, has been invited to represent his village and Lambandia sub-district to attend the Village Innovation event at the district level.

Keep the spirit, young men!!!

When Swisscontact and Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) came to Atolanu as part of the Cocoa Life implemen-tation program, youth interventions were initiated, like compost making, public speaking and leadership train-ing. The project also introduced the Musrembang pro-cess to them. Musrembang is an abbreviation of Musy-awarah Rencana Pembangunan, a multi-stakeholders consultation forum for planning development.

Mukrin adds that the youth program is very meaningful for him and his friends. This youth group managed to propose their ideas to this year Musrembang; building a football field and allocating some of the village fund to support the compost making program. The compost making was chosen because there was a lack of fertiliz-er supply in the community while the organic materials for compost production are widely available.

According to Mukrin, the Atolanu Youth group gets such a huge support from their village administrators. The group is getting 2 hectares of land that they can utilize to test their compost. They have been making use of half of the land to plant corn and chili tested with the compost they made. This group led by Mukrin is now capable of producing 2 tons of compost. This organic fertilizer type is packed as an-8-kg package each and sold for IDR 16,000 (USD 1.16). Some farmers and village admin-istrators regularly buy this fertilizer for their vegetables gardens or cocoa farms. The Atolanu Youth group con-sists of 10 members who are voluntarily self-supporting the operational cost of producing the compost.

Moreover, Mukrin hopes that they can get further sup-port especially in promoting their marketing strategy. He also added that there are still many other young peo-ple in the village who are still hesitated to join the pro-gram as they have not seen promising result yet. “I will keep doing this as long as I am still here in this village” (Mukrin, 20)

“We never got involved in Musrembang before. I personally have not joined in any such process, I hardly know how to propose my thoughts or ideas to the village administrators.” (Mukrin, 20, Leader of Atolanu Youth Group).

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Without cocoa, there is no chocolate. Without the next generation of cocoa farmers,there is no cocoa.

One of the important pillars of Cocoa Life program is increasing youth participation in the cocoa sec-tor. In Talinduka and Atolanu villages in Kolaka Timur District of Southeast Sulawesi Province, compost making program is developed under the Youth pillar intervention. Prior to the Cocoa Life program, the young generation of Atolanu pre-dominantly joining agricultural sector workforce or construction. Many of them went out of the village to find a job in the urban area. Cocoa Life program started its youth program in Atolanu in 2017. Youth entrepreneurship program is proposed as one of the community action plans to provide entrepre-neurship skills for the youngsters. Youth unem-ployment is high in the village, but the communi-ties believe that their potential can be improved so that they can provide significant contribution to the communities. With the support from the local administrators, the youths were facilitated to in-crease their skills and organized themselves.

Youth in Atolanu Village, Kolaka Timur, Southeast Sulawesi

Youth in Atolanu Village, Kolaka Timur, Southeast Sulawesi

photo caption-

“Many of our youngsters in Atolanu do not have jobs. Most of the time they are going farming or sometimes in their free times they will be gathering together with their friends” (Liska, 20, Treasurer)

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