Twenty-two farmers, housewives and youth from Cihideung Ilir Village in Bogor completed BIOTROP’s Training on Basic Entrepreneurship and Product Marketing on 11-13 July 2017 at the Village’s multipurpose hall.

The training was aimed to enhance the knowledge and skills of the farmers and housewives that have been previously trained by SEAMEO BIOTROP and selected out-of-school/unemployed youth in the village on the basics of entrepreneurship and product marketing with the intention of making all of them work effectively and efficiently together to develop integrated small-scale enterprises in their community. It was the fourth training that BIOTROP provided to the village as the pilot site of the SEAMEO STAR Village program which is a collaborative undertaking among the six SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia.

Specific objectives of the training were to: 1) increase knowledge on the concepts and principles of and develop the character and mindset for entrepreneurship; 2) increase knowledge on the 3Ps (Product, Price and Position) and 1T (Targeting) principles in marketing; 3) develop knowledge and skills on online marketing using social media; and 4) develop a simple but feasible business plan.

In opening the training, BIOTROP’s Deputy Director for Program Dr Jesus C. Fernandez oriented the participants on the goal of the SEAMEO STAR Village Program in relation to conducting the training. He emphasized the potentials of the village as producer of fresh catfish and processed food products as well as well as other agricultural commodities that are suitable for growing in their village. The training, he said, could be a way to develop entrepreneurship among the participants which could hopefully reduce unemployment rate, improve the living standard, and enhance the nutritional status in the village.

Four resource persons shared their knowledge and experiences in this training. They were Mr Bambang Suyitno from PT Mangano (Diana Abadi), Mr Wisnu Febry Pradana from Republik UKM, and Ms Riza Afifi and Ms Rosianadewi Dinaryanti from BIOTROP.  Topics discussed were 1) Building entrepreneurship character and mindset; 2) how to formulate a simple business plan and analysis; 3) How to create a product that meets the Health Standard of Food Processing Products from the government; 4) Effective pricing and selling; 5) Sharing of experiences from a successful micro entrepreneur; and 6) effective product price and sales; and 6. online marketing.

After the training, the participants were expected to be capable of formulating and implementing a feasible business plan for the commodities they have been producing and/or plan to produce.