Communities in Beji Village in District Ngawen said they still require ongoing assistance to improve their businesses, both in agriculture, animal husbandry, handicrafts, as well as SMEs that had been pioneered together with UGM. This is raised in the Workshop on Development of Village Community Empowerment Center assisted by Faculty of Biology held at Beji Village Hall on Tuesday (31/1).
The event that is a series of I-MHERE (Indonesia Managing Higher Education for Relevancy & Efficiency) programs was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Dr. Retno Peni Sancayaningsih, M.Sc., Vice Dean for Administration, Finance and General Issue, Dra. Mulyati Sarto, M.Si., PIC I-MHERE Activity 3.1, Slamet Widiyanto, S.Si., M.Si., lecturer Soenarwan Poerwanto Hery, S.Si., M. Kes., as well as Head of Beji Village, Sularti.
According to Supardi, a resident from Daguran Lor in Beji, with assistance from UGM he expected that efforts that have been made by residents, such as in the agricultural sector, would not stagnate. In his observation, the local residents are still low in the mastery of technology sector.
"We will be developed if there is assistance. Moreover, the technological mastery is still low," said Supardi.
Slamet, manager of Wonosadi tourist village, said some of the constraints are in native forest management and conservation apart from issues of institutional human resources quality which is still low.
"Supposedly, with strong institutional structure, native forests and conservation of Wonosadi will be more developed and become an icon of the Beji village," said Slamet.
Another statement came from Sukiyo, a Sidorejo resident. Sukiyo hoped UGM can train people to make replacement of feeding pellets to feed catfish. This is important because the cultivation of catfish that has been initiated with UGM has developed with promising results. Unfortunately, the residents are constrained by high prices of pellets on the market.
"If UGM could make cheaper alternatives of feed pellets, that will really help us,” Sukiyo said.
Head of Beji Village, Sularti, added that UGM role, especially for Beji community, is very important. Many programs have been done quite successfully, consequently, the business community is developing there. She pointed out that not long ago the Faculty of Biology through I-MHERE has disbursed Rp50 million stimulant fund to ten communities in Beji.
"The disbursed funds have already provided tangible evidence and benefits. The funds are used by the community whether for handicraft business, livestock, organic fertilizer or the cultivation of catfish and oyster mushrooms," Sularti explained.