Valuable Waste: Value Chain Promotion in Pangandaran West Java

When you hold this seminar bag, around 300 km away from you is a group of
women who dedicates their time to collect and clean the plastic waste in order to
make something useful out of it. The plastic packaging of coffee, tea, milk, candy,
sugar, detergents, etc. are crafted one by one by those women to make this
beautiful bag. Imagine that they use around 1.600 sachets and need 4-5 days to
form this bag. Your appreciation on this bag will make Ibu Nuryamah (26 years old)
puts a wide smile on her face. She is one of the women who joined the handicraft
training to learn how to produce bags, cases, and household items using plastic
waste as raw material. This is given to selected women from several villages in
Pangandaran, West Java. Ibu Nuryamah, same as the rest of the group, comes from
low-income background. Her husband is a farmer who also sells tofu around the
villages during free time. He earns around Rp 25.000 each day, which is not enough
to raise their 5-year-old child, while Ibu Nuryamah is unemployed. Using the skills gained in the training, she
started to produce handicraft so that she can contribute to her household economy.
Pangandaran is a beautiful area at the southern coast of West Java and
has tourism potential due to its beaches, caves, and national park. After the
tsunami, Pangandaran was supported by UNWTO to develop its tourism
sector. In 2009 GTZ-supported Regional Economic Development (RED)
Programme was asked to provide assistance to Pangandaran for low-
income groups to increase their economic potential. Based on the value
chain mapping it was identified that souvenir production in Pangandaran is
not environment-friendly as the souvenirs are mostly made from the coral
reefs. Moreover, the Pangandaran beach faces a big problem because of
the rubbish. This training therefore offered a solution covering 3 aspects,
namely poverty reduction, environment and women empowerment.
In the beginning of May 2010, 16 women formed a group and named it
“Campernik” also used as a brand for their products. Campernik means
unique, beautiful, and clean in Sundanese language. Through this group
they hope that they can achieve their dream to develop the business
professionally. The 16 women have now transferred their expertise to
produce handicrafts to 570 other women in Pangandaran.
Pangandaran is one of the dissemination regions which is supported by the
RED Programme. The handicraft training was conducted within the
framework of the Value Chain promotion facilitated by the RED Programme
together with Bappeda West Java Province, Bappeda Ciamis District and
the local stakeholders (Rambat and LWG). The purpose is to strengthen the tourism sector as the locomotive
for the economic promotion.
Deputy Director of Economic Division, Bappeda West Java, commented that through this activity, there is a
positive transformation: previously people were unproductive, now they can create economic incentives for their
families. Previously there was a lot of rubbish on the beach, but now waste is used to become a marketable
handicraft product.
Tourists are already purchasing these products at an averge price of Rp 125.000 per bag. It takes 4-5 days on
average to complete a DIN A4 bag. So far the women group cannot fulfill producing the demanded quantity of
orders. However, for the future upgrading it is necessary to facilitate the establishment of marketing channels
and buyers channels as well as access to finance with a proper business plan in order to obtain a loan for the
purchase of sewing machines.
This seminar bag is provided to you through a long process and dedication of groups of women who are on their
way to alleviate poverty as to significantly reduce the waste in their beautiful environment.
For more information, contact:
Regional Economic Development (RED) Programme
Wisma Bakrie 2, 5th Floor
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. B2
Jakarta 12920
T/F +62 21 57945740
I www.red.or.id