UNS — The Diploma Program in Agribusiness, Vocational School (SV) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta organizes Agribusiness Start-Up Challenge (Agrisucha). This event is one of the efforts to prepare the young entrepreneurs generation in the agriculture sector. Agrisucha was delivered in a business incubation model covering training, assistance, and start-up business development for alumni and students of the Agribusiness Diploma Program SV UNS. The event was officially started on Saturday (28/8/2021), which directly became the first day of training.
In his opening speech, the Head of Diploma in Agribusiness Study Program, Raden Kunto Adi, M.P., explains that the objective of this program is to shape new entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector. “Hopefully, this program can improve the number of entrepreneurs from the Diploma in Agribusiness Study Program for 30% of the total graduates in line with the Main Performance Indicator 1,” he wishes.
The Dan of UNS Vocational School, Drs. Santoso Tri Hananto, M.Acc., Ak., who was also attending the opening event, hopes that the program can be implemented sustainably. “We hope that the start-up initiatives in the agriculture sector can go sustainably. Of course, this cannot be separated from the participation and collaboration from the industry partners of this study program,” said Santoso Tri Hananto, M.Acc. Ak.
The training invites Untung Wijanarko (owner of Tani Organik Merapi) and Andhika Mahardika (CEO of Agradaya) for the first day meeting. Untung Wijanarko shares his experiences in starting organic agribusiness. Currently, the product of Tani Organik Merapi has been distributed to numerous supermarkets. Meanwhile, Andhika Mahardika, as the CEO of Agradaya, recounts his story in empowering herbal medicine farmers. On the first day of training, participants show high enthusiasm and are not hesitating to interact with the instructors. The training will continue for 5 (five) days, covering various other materials, starting from the introduction to entrepreneurship for the agriculture start-up business, preparation of a business plan, marketing strategy and branding, funding, financial report preparation, and business legality.
The invited instructors are experts and partners of the Diploma in Agribusiness Study Program. Rysca Indreswari, M.Si., who serves as the PIC of the Agrisucha event, states that after the training, each team will establish a business assisted by external experts. “External mentor who will assist the process directly are Aries Adenata, M.Hum. (Founder of Brand Insight), Andhika Mahardika (CEO of Agradaya–Yogyakarta), and Suhariyanto Putra (People Development Manager at TaniHub–Jakarta). As for the internal mentors, there will be business experts from UNS such as Dr. Heru Irianto, Dr. Erlina Wida Riptanti, and Raden Kunto Adi, M.P.,” explains Rysca.
There will be a product exhibition at the end of the program, inviting the partner institutions to evaluate, delivering suggestions, and proposing a collaboration or funding for the developed products. Iqbal, one of the participants in Agrisucha, states that when he first knew about the program, he was highly interested in joining the program. He did not waste much time considering joining after listening to the program explanation. “I am grateful for this opportunity to improve my capacities in entrepreneurship, and we did not only learn about how to produce goods and sell them. After the initial selection, we were divided into several teams to collaborate and proposing a start-up idea under the guidance and assistance from the professional mentors,” Iqbal said.
Based on the tracer study report for the Study Program in 2020, the number of graduates initiating entrepreneur activity remains low at 16.67%. Therefore, a suitable strategy is needed to achieve the Main Performance Indicator 1 (graduates obtain a decent job). Therefore, training and assistance are crucial to cut employment waiting time and improving the number of entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector. The Agrisucha program is expected to empower the future Argo entrepreneur. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti