To help boost the local economy in Soligi Village, South Obi District, South Halmahera—an area within Harita Nickel’s operational scope on Obi Island—the company has encouraged residents to cultivate soybeans and process them into tofu and tempeh for consumption by company employees.
According to Latif Supriadi, Head of Community Affairs at Harita Nickel, this soybean farming and processing program will position Soligi Village as the first upstream-to-downstream, soybean-based food production center in South Halmahera. The main market for these processed products is the catering companies serving Harita Nickel, namely PT GDSK and PT Aden.
He explained that Harita Nickel first began supporting the first soybean cultivation across two hectares of land on July 21, 2022. Then, on September 17, 2022, the Rumah Usaha Tangguh Ekonomi (RUTE) economic empowerment center was inaugurated together with the Soligi village government. The program initially involved 14 women from three hamlets. The goal was that, once production capacity increased, more residents would be able to join, according to the RUTE operating mechanism.
Through RUTE, the women process the soybeans into tofu and tempeh, with a target output of 80,000 pieces per month to meet Harita Nickel employees’ consumption needs. Every month, catering vendors PT GDSK and PT Aden require approximately 80,000 pieces of tofu and tempeh. “With that demand, RUTE has the potential to generate a total monthly turnover of up to IDR 330 million,” Latif explained in a statement on Tuesday (9/202022).
Latif added that Harita Nickel’s support for the Soligi community development and empowerment (PPM) program includes institutional formation and strengthening, provision of tofu and tempeh production equipment, technical training, production management, market access support, and demonstration plots for soybean cultivation.
“RUTE is focused on optimizing soybean-based products, ranging from tofu and tempeh to soy milk. This forms part of Harita Nickel’s One Village One Product (OVOP) strategy,” he continued.
Benefits for Soligi Village
“Harita Nickel will continue to fully support the community through well-targeted PPM programs. In the case of RUTE in Soligi, assistance includes skills development and ongoing guidance from production through to marketing,” added Stevi Thomas, Head of External Relations at Harita Nickel.
Rusman Baharudin, RUTE Coordinator, hopes the program will bring meaningful improvements to village livelihoods and continue to benefit the community in the long term.
“Through this program, the community has gained many positive things, especially in terms of skills and entrepreneurship,” Rusman said.
Meanwhile, Badri Bakhtiar, a representative of PT GDSK, noted that tofu and tempeh for catering operations are currently sourced from outside Obi Island, resulting in reduced freshness and quality by the time they arrive on site.
“We hope to begin collaborating with RUTE as soon as possible, and that the RUTE group will be able to supply high-quality tofu and tempeh,” Bakhtiar said. His statement was echoed by Ronny, representing the other catering vendor, PT Aden.
Source : kompas.com