WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

This community-based initiative, in collaboration with the Marine Conservation team, empowers village women through training and educational activities. These programs equip them with skills to create marketable ecoprint products using ink extracted from mangroves, such as batik and souvenirs.

Gotong royong, meaning “mutual cooperation,” involves sharing work within the community. The women’s group in Kiabu Village is actively engaged, organizing weekly neighborhood clean-ups. This activity supports the Foundation’s Integrated Waste Management Program in Kiabu.

To enhance economic productivity, we train women’s groups to improve their home industry products and connect them with markets, providing an additional income stream. The primary home industry products include banana chips, cassava chips, fish crackers, banana peel crackers, and rempeyek. 

The Foundation’s Organic Home Farming initiative teaches women practical skills for growing organic vegetables at home. These vegetables can be sold for extra income and provide more diverse and nutritious food for their families. Commonly grown vegetables include spinach, mustard greens, water spinach, tomatoes, and eggplant.

Since the program’s inception, vegetable consumption in the village has steadily increased. Many women now feed their families with produce from their own gardens, while any surplus is sold to neighbors and other villages.