A Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) student team has once again achieved a notable accomplishment by winning first place in the Essay Competition Red Action (Escoration). The competition was organized by the Development Economics Student Study Group of the Faculty of Economics and Business at UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta on Nov. 15, 2025.
The award was secured by Vina Ayu Lestari (Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences) and Nafi’atush Sholikhah (Faculty of Animal Science), under the supervision of Dr. Nur Achmad Sulistyo Putro as the faculty advisor.
Vina Ayu Lestari explained that dozens of teams from various universities across Indonesia attended the competition.
Team Mafaza, representing UGM, competed under the subtheme of digitalization and technology with an essay titled “ChickGgot: Accelerating Sustainable Economic Growth Through Herbal Immunomodulatory Feed Supplements from Chicken Manure and Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Maggots.”
“The main theme of the National Essay Competition AKSARA is ‘Weaving Innovation, Crafting Change: The Role of Youth Toward an Inclusive and Sustainable Economy,’” said Lestari at UGM on Monday (Jan. 5).
Carrying this subtheme, Lestari explained that the innovation proposed by the UGM student team was motivated by environmental damage caused by the accumulation of chicken manure.
In several livestock farming locations, piles of chicken waste are still commonly found neglected around poultry sheds.
“Unfortunately, most of this waste is left to accumulate, even though it has the potential to be transformed into products with considerable economic value,” she explained.
Nafi’atush Sholikhah added that using chicken manure waste as herbal feed supplements could be an innovation to address the problem of waste accumulation around poultry farms.
Moreover, the production of such herbal feed supplements is expected to enhance livestock immunity, contributing to sustainable economic innovation.
“The competition stages consisted of several phases, starting from proposal submission to the preparation of PowerPoint presentations and final presentations before the panel of judges,” said Sholikhah.
With this achievement, Sholikhah hopes to make a significant contribution to farmers by encouraging the utilization of chicken manure in value-added products.
In addition, the team hopes that this accomplishment will inspire young people to generate innovations and creative ideas that support efforts to address environmental issues in the livestock sector.
“The Mafaza Team strongly hopes that ChickGgot can be further developed and widely implemented to address environmental challenges in livestock farming through the use of maggots that support the growth of a circular economy,” she concluded.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Rajendra Arya