UNS — A team of the Holistic Program of Rural Assistance and Empowerment (PHP2D) International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Science Local Committee (IAAS LC) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, won a grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) this year for rural empowerment and assistance program. As the implementation of this program, the PHP2D IAAS LC UNS Team conducted an empowerment program for people in Tanen Hamlet, Kemuning, Karanganyar by maximizing one of its natural resource potentials, tea epiphytes.
PHP2D IAAS LC UNS program with Tanen Hamlet people, especially the housewives, started with program socialization in August 2021 to introduce their program, explain the flow of their empowerment program, and determine the production house. The production activities started on September and October 2021, and on Saturday (6/11/2021), they collected more than 500 packs of tea epiphytes tea. The team will continue increasing the production output and promote the product on Sunday (14/11/2021). A team member, Akmal, explained that the epiphytes tea they produced has several variants.
“The epiphytes tea (we) produced have tasty taste and several variants. The available variants are grouped into three groups, healthy variant, sweet variant, and superior variant,” Akmal explained to uns.ac.id team on Saturday (27/11/2012).
In addition to this tea product, the team also established a Women Farmers Group (KWT) Tanen Asri as an effort to ensure the sustainability of their tea production. KWT Tanen Asri has 151 members from Tanen Hamlet housewives who were actively participating in the program. Currently, the team and KWT Tanen Asri have produced more than 600 tea bags and will continue the production and market the product to improve the local economy. Akmal hoped that this program could facilitate the sustainability of their program in Tanen Hamlet.
“Hopefully, through the programs we implemented and targets achieved, PHP2D IAAS LC UNS Team could facilitate the sustainability of the program in Tanen Hamlet, especially in assistance so that (the local people) could be more independent in processing tea epiphytes,” Akmal stated. Humas UNS
Reporter: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita
Editor: Dwi Hastuti