Sendang Sikucing Village is one of many villages holding the potential to excel in the maritime sector, with a total of fish sales weighing 1,647 tons. However, a group of students comprising members of the Bidikmisi and KIP Student Community (Kamadiksi) at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) managed to unveil problems from production and marketing viewpoints.
The marine products, which are often sold at the Fish Auction Center, would degrade in quality if the products were not to sold quickly. This will obviously cause losses in the products’ value. With this problem, the Kamadiksi Community, through the Student Organization Capacity Building Program (PPKO), provided a solution by educating groups of fishermen in Sikucing Village, Rowosari Sub-district, Kendal Regency.
The program was an output from a proposal entitled ‘Sea Hut: Economic Development of Sendang Sikucing Village Through Innovations in Production of Fish Products to Excel in the Maritime Sector.’
Muhammad Argya Safa Firdaus, the leader of the PPKO team, explained that the team educated the fishermen concerning technology. They taught the fishermen by developing a training center consisting of four programs, involving youths and groups of fishermen.
“We also gave them innovations to get their fish products to be more interesting from consumers’ viewpoint. The examples are to process the products to be fish fillet, fish sausage, and fish snacks, which are the current standard of the market,” he explained.
A training program involving entrepreneurship and digital marketing was also given to improve the sales of fish products. Therefore, the aims of this entire program were to turn Sendang Sikucing Village to be an excellent maritime center, as well as improve the capacity of the fishermen to maximize their economic potential.
“We also give the fishermen a book entitled ‘The Reflection of Student Organization in Empowering Villages.’ Hopefully, this book will allow the empowerment program to be continued for two generations in the future,” Muhammad Argya Safa Firdaus, a Visual Communication Student, explained.
Etika Kartikadarma, M.Kom., the supervisor of this program, added that the team would continue the program intensively. Hopefully, this support will be able to improve the capacity of fishermen, both novice fishermen and adept ones.
“Our team used the learning-by-doingapproach so that the fishermen would get practical knowledge, allowing them to develop their own working plans. We also expect them to be able to get in touch with the current technology,” Etika concluded. (Humas Udinus/Haris. Foto: Dok. PPKO Kamadiksi)
