Village Development Cannot Be Done Piecemeal
Villages in Indonesia do not lack development programmes. Various activities exist with different objectives: waste management, micro-enterprise empowerment, food security, institutional strengthening, and local potential development. Each problem is typically handled through its own separate programme. The issue is that problems in villages do not stand alone. Waste is linked to community behaviour and service availability. Food enterprises require not only production capability but also raw materials, financial management, product quality, and markets. Meanwhile, community institutions determine who will run activities after the facilitation period ends.
An integrated perspective is actually in line with the direction of village development. Within the Village Index framework, village development encompasses the interrelated dimensions of basic services, social, economic, environmental, accessibility, and village governance. This means village development should not be carried out through activities that run independently of one another.
The updated National Waste Management Information System (SIPSN) for 2025 shows that waste generation in Tangerang Regency reaches approximately 2,663 tonnes per day. In Pondok Kelor, the waste problem is visible from piles of household rubbish at several residential points. Some waste is burned, dumped on vacant land, or left to accumulate because regular collection and transportation services are not yet available. This condition is easily perceived as a problem of low public awareness. However, asking people not to dispose of or burn waste will be difficult to yield change if no service enables them to do the right thing. Therefore, the problem is not only how to change residents’ behaviour, but also how to build a service system that can support that change.
In the initial stage, Pondok Kelor’s needs are quite basic: building a waste collection and transportation service that can run routinely. The Karang Taruna youth organisation became the main partner because its members know the area, are close to residents, and have the potential to become drivers of community-based environmental services. Appropriate technology in the form of a three-wheeled vehicle, or bentor, is used to support waste collection and transportation to a temporary disposal site (TPS). However, the bentor is not the programme’s goal. The vehicle is a means so that a service previously unavailable in a structured manner can begin to operate. The more important questions arise after the tool is available. Who will operate it? How is the collection schedule arranged? Which areas are served? How are tasks divided? How are activities recorded? Where do the costs for fuel and vehicle maintenance come from? These questions show that the main problem is not the tool, but the system that allows the tool to function sustainably.
Therefore, strengthening Karang Taruna cannot be done through training alone. This organisation needs to have a division of tasks, operational mechanisms, record-keeping, communication with residents, cadre regeneration, and gradually a financing scheme that allows the service to continue. In the first phase, Pondok Kelor has not yet reached the stage of waste processing. The focus remains on building a collection and transportation service that was previously unavailable in a structured way. This stage is important because a more complex system will be difficult to develop if the basic service itself has not yet been formed.
Another problem was found in the local food business group under the Village-Owned Enterprise (BUMDes). The community actually already has production capability, especially in processing cassava-based food. However, the ability to make products does not automatically result in a sustainable business. Bookkeeping is not done consistently. Business finances are still mixed with household finances. Product quality is not uniform, while packaging and marketing still need strengthening. Therefore, business development should not necessarily start with adding new product types. The business foundation needs to be improved first through financial literacy, simple bookkeeping, quality control, packaging, and marketing.
The name Pondok Kelor indicates the relationship of the moringa plant with this village. However, along with changes in land use and settlement patterns, the presence of moringa trees has increasingly diminished. Many trees were cut down because the community no longer saw them as having significant economic value. Many villages try to find a commodity or characteristic to build their identity. Pondok Kelor already has one. The challenge is how to make this identity relevant again and provide benefits for the community. Reviving moringa cannot be done simply by distributing seedlings and asking people to plant them. If the community does not see the benefit, the movement risks stopping after the activity ends. Therefore, planting must be linked to utilisation. Karang Taruna can drive moringa planting based on home gardens as part of environmental activities. The plants that grow can then become a source of raw materials for local food development. The business group under the BUMDes can gradually develop its utilisation after the foundation of business management, product quality, and raw material availability is more prepared. This is where moringa has a strategic position. Planting moringa supports greening while providing potential raw materials, and the business group can develop it into economically valuable food products. In this way, environmental activities and business strengthening do not run separately. However, this development does not need to be rushed.