Mentoring for the development of the Merah Putih Village cooperative for horticultural farmers in Sempajaya Village
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59651/cceria.v20i3.457Keywords:
Horticultural farmers, Cooperative development, Mentoring, Merah Putih Village Cooperative, Rural economic institutionAbstract
The Merah Putih Village Cooperative serves as a strategic rural economic institution to improve community welfare through collective business development. However, the Merah Putih Village Cooperative in Sempajaya Village continues to face several challenges, including limited productive business units, low membership participation, and inadequate managerial capacity to support the economic activities of horticultural farmers. This community service program aimed to strengthen the cooperative through mentoring focused on institutional development, productive business expansion, and increasing the participation of horticultural farmers as cooperative members. The program adopted a participatory approach using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), training, mentoring, and monitoring and evaluation. The mentoring activities emphasized business development planning, organizational governance, capacity building for cooperative managers, and membership recruitment strategies through farmer groups. The results demonstrated improved managerial knowledge and skills among cooperative administrators, the development of a productive business plan focused on agricultural input supply, increased interest among horticultural farmers in joining the cooperative, and improvements in membership administration. Overall, the mentoring program strengthened the institutional capacity of the Merah Putih Village Cooperative and enhanced its potential to become a productive, participatory, and sustainable rural economic institution that supports the development of the horticultural sector in Sempajaya Village.
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