The integration between Village-Owned Enterprises (Bumdes) and Forest Farmer Groups (KTH) is a strategic step in optimizing natural resource management and improving the welfare of Singapure Village community, located in Kota Agung District, Lahat Regency, South Sumatra. This village is endowed with natural wealth in the form of the protected forest area of Bukit Patah Gunung Jambul, which is a habitat for various types of wildlife, including the Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae). The majority of Singapure Village residents are robusta coffee farmers, who have traditionally cultivated coffee on the hillsides and valleys around the forest.

In an effort to support the community’s welfare improvement and environmental protection, the government is promoting a social forestry program. This program provides legal recognition to communities managing forest land, including coffee farmers in Singapure Village. As an implementation of this program, two community groups in the village, namely KTH Tri Setya Budi and KTH Bukit Jambul, have been granted approval to manage community forests (HkM).

In an effort to maximize land management and ensure the sustainability of forest management by KTH, the Resilience Environment Foundation of Indonesia is promoting synergy in forest area management into the village development plan. One form of this synergy is the collaboration between KTH and Bumdes Maju Bersama Desa Singapure, with a focus on managing red cherry coffee.

In this scheme, KTH will act as a supplier of red cherry coffee fruits, while Bumdes will be responsible for post-harvest processing and processing of derivative products. In the program’s first year, Bumdes successfully accommodated and processed 5 tons of KTH member coffee at a competitive price.

Thus, the integration between Bumdes and KTH not only provides economic benefits to the Singapure Village community through increasing the added value of coffee products but also has the potential to improve overall welfare and maintain environmental sustainability through sustainable and responsible management.

Contributor:

Meiardhy Mujianto