Volume 3, Issue 8, August – 2018 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

ISSN No:-2456-2165

Rattan Craftsmen Community Empowerment in

Gorontalo Indonesia
Halim K. Malik
Gorontalo State University

Abstract:- This study aims to describe the According to the results of an inventory carried out by
Empowerment Study of Rattan Craftsmen Community the Gorontalo City Forestry Production Development
Groups in the Chair of Mitra Utama Limba B, Directorate, out of 143 million hectares of forest in
Gorontalo City. This research is a qualitative descriptive Indonesia, it is estimated that forests are covered with rattan
study. Data collection techniques in this study use covering an area of approximately 13.20 million hectares,
interviews, observation, documentation. The analysis spread across Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Gorontalo,
technique used is qualitative analysis. Based on the Java, and islands. others who have natural forests. In
results of research and discussion can be concluded Indonesia there are eight rattan clans which consist of
conclusions in the effort of community empowerment in approximately 306 species, only 51 species have been
the economic field through this capital aspect are: (1) utilized. This means that the utilization of rattan types is still
how the provision of capital assistance does not cause low and limited to the types of benefits that have been
dependence on the community; (2) how to solve this known and sold in the market. It is estimated that more than
aspect of capital is done through the creation of a new 516 types of rattan are found in Southeast Asia, originating
conducive system of micro businesses, small businesses, from 8 genera, namely for the genus Calamus 333 species,
and medium-sized businesses to gain access in financial Daemonorops 122 species, Khorthalsia 30 species,
institutions; (3) how the scheme of use or capital Plectocomia 10 types, Plectocomiopsis 10 types,
allocation policy is not trapped in a subsistence economy Calopspatha 2 types, Bejaudia 1 type and Ceratolobus 6 type
or poor economy. These three things are important to be (Dransfield 1974, Menon 1979 in Alrasjid, 1989). Of the 8
solved together. The core of empowerment is community genera, two rattan genera of high economic value are
independence. Providing capital grants to the public, in Calamus and Daemonorops (Arifin Budi 2010: 12). The
addition to not educating the public to be accountable to problem is, the facts on the ground are not optimal in the
the mselves, will also distort the money market. empowerment process at the stage of developing self-
awareness and the potential of the community so that the
Keywords:- Craftsmen and rattan. community has not fully developed its creativity. The next
step has not fostered self-confidence and developed
I. INTRODUCTION capabilities. If the sense of awareness is not owned then the
community will find it difficult to develop confidence in the
Rattan is one of Indonesia's biological sources, a large mselves to take action, learn and practice the skills they
country foreign exchange earner. As the largest rattan need to improve their quality of life.
producing country, Indonesia has contributed 80% of the
world's rattan needs. Of this amount 90% of rattan is Thus, empowerment becomes important for craftsmen
produced from natural forests found in Sumatra, in strengthening the ability to improve themselves and
Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and about 10% are produced from improve their position in society. Therefore, the process of
rattan cultivation. The value of Indonesian rattan exports in empowerment will also relate to cultural values such as hard
2010 reached the US $ 208, 183 million (Arifin Budi 2010: work, frugal living, openness and responsibility ertanggung
12). Rattan resources can be used as a medium for b, b aik of capital and processing. The purpose of
empowerment. The starting point is that every human being, empowerment in relation to realizing a learning society is a
in every society, has potential that can be developed. This concept that also contains social values in addition to
means that there is no community at all without power. economic values. The concept of empowerment is broader
Empowerment is an effort to build up power to push to than just meeting basic needs or providing a mechanism to
motivate and raise awareness of the potentials and strive to prevent further impoverishment, whose thoughts have been
develop it. Abdul Rahmatdan Christina Catur Widayati developed lately as an effort to find alternatives to the
(2016). concept of economic growth in the past.

In the context of rattan craft life skills education, the Enterprises of the Main Partner Furniture, one of
implementation of empowerment aimed at the interests of which uses rattan resources. Rattan craft business, for the
the economic life of the community is important. The Main Partner Furniture, is generally a business that has long
concept of empowerment can be seen from the approach in been occupied and is a hereditary business from the previous
the empowerment process, among others: through self generation. Rattan is widely used commercially because it
reliance, namely an approach that is oriented towards has a flexible, strong, and relatively uniform shape. Rattan is
creating a sense of self-worth, self-confidence, and a tree that belongs to the palm group. One of the functions
independence. of rattan is used as raw material to make household

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ISSN No:-2456-2165
furnitures such as tables, chairs or other furniture. Tulus to make others do what we want, regardless of their desires
Suryanto, E. l. T. (2017). and interests. Traditional social science emphasizes that
power is related to influence and control. This understanding
Empowerment efforts that have been and are being assumes that power is something that is unchanging or
carried out through three (3) dimensions (Partners, 2010: 3), irreversible. Real power is not limited to the above
namely: first, atmosphere or climate that allows the potential understanding. Power is not vacuumed and isolated. Power
for developing rattan craftsmen society. The starting point of is always present in the context of social relations between
this thinking is the understanding that every human being people. Power is created in social relations. Therefore,
and society has potential that can be developed. power and power relations can change. With this
Empowerment in this context is defined as an effort to build understanding of power, empowerment as a process of
that potential by encouraging, motivating and raising change then has a meaningful concept. In other words, the
awareness of the potential of the community and trying to possibility of an empowerment process depends on two
develop it. Second, to strengthen the potential or power things: (1) That power can change. If power cannot change,
possessed by rattan craftsmen, so that more positive and real empowerment is impossible in any way; and (2) That power
steps are needed, various access to opportunities that will can be expanded. This concept emphasizes the notion of
make people more empowered in taking advantage of power that is not static, but dynamic. (Arifin Budi 2010:
opportunities. Third, protect, that is, in the empowerment 32).
process, it can provide courage in trying.
B. Review of Rattan Crafts
 Research purposes The rattan to be harvested is rattan which is ripe for
Based on the formulation of the problem above, this cutting, with the characteristics of the bottom part of the
study aims to describe the empowerment of rattan craftsmen stem that is no longer closed by the leaves of the petals or
community groups in the Department of Mitra Utama Limba selundang, some of the leaves have dried up, the thorns and
B, Gorontalo City. leaves of the petals have fallen out. Harvesting rattan is done
by looking for rattan that is ripe for cutting, then cutting the
II. THEORETICAL STUDY base of the rattan with a hook up to 10 to 50 cm high, then
with a hook the trunk is pulled to detach from the support
A. The Nature of Community Empowerment tree. The rattan that has been harvested is then cleaned from
Community empowerment can be defined as a social the leaves and thorns and cut into the desired size. After
action where residents of a community organize themselves that, the rattan is transported to the Collection Place.
in making collective plans and actions to solve social Temporary (TPS) to the collection places Rattan (TPR) by
problems or meet social needs in accordance with their means bear, boat/canoe and using horses (Sinaga, 2006: 45).
capabilities and resources. In reality, often this process does
not appear automatically, but grows and develops based on The dynamics of change and development always
the interaction of the local community with outsiders or bring new aspirations and demands from the community to
social workers who work both on a charitable drive and a realize a better quality of life. The aspirations and demands
professional perspective. These social workers act as social of the community are based on the desire to participate more
companions (Suharto, 2009: 90). in realizing a society that is advanced, independent and
based on justice. In increasingly complex development, the
Social assistance greatly determines the success of community needs to be given stimulation to think about
poverty alleviation programs. Referring to Ife (1995: 44), development problems faced and contribute to formulating
the companion role generally includes three main roles, solutions, so that active participation of the community will
namely: facilitators, educators, community representatives, foster togetherness and have implications for accelerating
and technical roles for the poor they accompany. One the improvement of the welfare of the people that are just,
approach that is now often used in improving the quality of prosperous and prosperous. Efforts to empower the
life and elevating the dignity of poor families is community community, it takes care that is manifested in partnership
empowerment. This concept becomes very important and togetherness in those who have advanced to the
especially because it provides a positive perspective on the undeveloped party. P emberdayaan society is a process of
poor. The poor are not seen as people who are deprived (for change from dependency towards the independence. Various
example, lack of food, lack of income, lack of health, less views that develop in the theory of development, both in the
dynamic) and passive objects of mere service recipients. But economic and administrative fields, place the community as
as a person who has a variety of abilities that can be the center of attention and target as well as the main actors
mobilized to improve his life. The concept of empowerment of development, or in other words, the community is not
provides a frame of reference regarding the power and only an object but as the subject of development. This view
capability that covers social, economic, cultural, political emerged as a response to the occurrence of inequality along
and institutional levels. with increasing economic growth. Rahmat, A. (2017).

Conceptually, empowerment or empowerment comes III. RESEARCH METHODS

from the word 'power' (power or empowerment). Therefore,
the main idea of empowerment comes into contact with the This thesis research is located at the location of rattan
concept of power. Power is often associated with our ability craftsmen in Mitra Furniture. The approach used in this

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Volume 3, Issue 8, August – 2018 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
study is a qualitative approach, where research wants to This role is understood as an effort of capacity,
emphasize more on the disclosure of meaning and process independence and self-reliance of the community, especially
with our background as a direct data source or called case for small and poor communities. So in implementing it in
study research (Moleong, 2006: 54). empowerment, there are five dimensions that are carried out
holistically and integratively. The five dimensions include;
The source of this research data is the managers and The dimensions of welfare, dimensions of power of access,
employees of the Main Partner Furniture which functions as dimensions of critical awareness, dimensions of
a subject or key informant, the data source is taken participation, and dimensions of power sharing.
purposively, and not done randomly. A purposive sampling
technique is used to direct the collection of data according to B. Business capital assistance
needs through selection and selecting informants who are To obtain data on capital assistance from rattan
truly information and problems in depth and can be trusted craftsmen, researchers conducted interviews with one of the
to be a source of data. AD pack informants as follows: One aspect of the problem
faced by society is capital. The slow pace of capital
Moleong (2006: 85) suggests there are four stages in accumulation among micro, small and medium
qualitative research, namely: (1) Pre-field, (2) Field entrepreneurs is one of the causes of the slow pace of
activities, (3) Intensive analysis, (4) Research and reporting. business development and low business surpluses in the
micro, small and medium enterprises sector. Capital factors
IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION also become one of the reasons for not emerging new
businesses outside the extractive sector. Therefore, it is not
A. Empowering Rattan Craftsmen wrong, if in the community empowerment in the economic
To obtain data on the empowerment of rattan field, the solution in this aspect of capital is important and
craftsmen, the researcher conducted an interview with one indeed must be done. (W.AD.WK-MMU.13-05-12).
of Pak WD's informants as follows: Small Industry (IK)
Rattan in the Chair of MitraUtama Limba B, Gorontalo City Based on the results of the interview, u Raha on the
In the Chair of Mitra Utama Limba B, Gorontalo City has Chair of the MitraUtamaLimba B Office of Gorontalo City
been in existence since 2003. In carrying out its activities, is a form of business carried out by most people and is able to
IK rattan faces many problems in maintaining its existence provideand absorb employment, develop and empower the
and to grow bigger. Every year the volume of rattan local economy, create new markets, source of innovation,
furniture sales always increases, but the growth rate is still and donations in activities export. Therefore, the Rattan
low. In addition, the marketing area is still limited to the Business at the Main Partners Office has a strategic role in
local market. (W.WD.K-MMU.13-05-12). realizing the structure of the national economy. However, the
Rattan Business at MeubelMitraUtama is still faced with
More details can be seen in table 1 below: various obstacles and constraints including meeting capital
requirements.
Table 1.
Total Production, Average Sales, Marketing Purpose of IK C. Development Assistance for Infrastructure Facilities
Rattan in the Chair of Mitra Utama Limba B, Gorontalo City To get data on Assistance for Construction of
Infrastructure Facilities rattan craftsmen, researchers
Year Total Average Growth Regional conducted interviews with one of the SS pack informants as
production sales (%) Marketing follows: Efforts to boost productivity and encourage
(set) (set) business growth, will not have an important meaning for the
201 3 7.537 6,956 - Local community, if the production cannot be marketed, or if it
20 1 4 8,257 7.216 3.7% Local can be sold but at a very low price. Therefore, that important
201 5 13,004 7,507 3.4% Local component in the effort of community empowerment in the
economic field is the development of production and
Source:Processed from Data UtUtilFurnitureand Limba B marketing infrastructure. The availability of marketing
of Gorontalo City, 2016 infrastructure and/or transportation from the production
location to the market will reduce the marketing chain and in
Based on the results of these interviews, p roses the end will increase the acceptance of micro-entrepreneurs
empowerment containing two tendencies, namely: First, the and entrepreneurs, small-scale entrepreneurs, and medium-
community empowerment process that emphasizes the sized entrepreneurs. That is, in terms of economic
process of giving or transferring some power, strength, or empowerment, the infrastructure development projects
ability to the community so that individuals become more supporting underdeveloped villages are indeed strategic.
empowered. This process can also be complemented by (W.SS.PR.19-05-12).
efforts to build material assets to support the development of
their independence through the organization. Second, the Economic empowerment in the community is weak,
process of stimulating, encouraging or motivating initially carried out through an individual approach. This
individuals to have the ability or empowerment to determine individual approach does not provide satisfactory results,
what their life choices are through a dialogue process. therefore, the approach taken is a group approach. The
reason is that capital accumulation will be difficult to

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achieve among the poor, therefore capital accumulation can be sold but at very low prices. Therefore, that important
must be carried out together in groups or joint ventures. component in the effort of community empowerment in the
Likewise with the problem of distribution, the poor cannot economic field is the development of production and
control the distribution of production and production inputs marketing infrastructure. The availability of marketing
individually. Through groups, they can build strength to help infrastructure and/or transportation from the production
determine distribution. location to the market will reduce the marketing chain and in
the end will increase the acceptance of micro-entrepreneurs
Thus, understanding the development of economic and entrepreneurs, small-scale entrepreneurs, and medium-
institutions needs to be redefined. If the group approach is sized entrepreneurs. That is, in terms of economic
intended for the purpose of capital accumulation or building empowerment, the infrastructure development projects
a separate financial institution, then it is not easy to achieve supporting underdeveloped villages are indeed strategic.
it. The most realistic thing is that if the grouping or
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