Golden Village Programme 2025: Turning Waste into Profit

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – The Inotek Foundation, together with the Indonesia Setara Foundation (YIS) and the Kebumen Regency Government, held the Golden Village Programme 2025 at the Lajer Village Hall, Kademangan Hamlet, Ambal, Kebumen Regency, Central Java. The event, attended by dozens of residents, included workshops on spinning raw materials from banana fronds to weaving them into handicrafts.

During the session, Siswanto, a successful entrepreneur in handicrafts made from banana frond materials, was present. This civil servant from Alian Sub-district, Kebumen, demonstrated that banana frond waste has high economic value. Amid his busy schedule, Siswanto manages a side business as a coordinator and collector of dried banana frond raw materials.

In the motivational session, he shared his inspiring story of starting the banana frond handicraft business and achieving additional income surpassing Kebumen’s UMR. These profits now support his daily needs and his children’s education costs.

Following the sharing session, the activities continued with a Workshop on Cost of Goods Sold Calculation and Financial Management. This was followed by a Workshop on Photography and AI Optimisation for Producing Professional Product Photos, as well as a Workshop on Social Media Optimisation for Marketing.

YIS Founder, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, explained that the event is a continuation of the practice of spinning banana frond fibres. The workshop materials cover the introduction to raw materials, techniques for cutting dried fronds, to procedures for using spinning tools.