Sustainability has distinguished ITM's corporate responsibility programs from those that are carried out by its peer. At the 2022 Top CSR Awards held in March 2022, the sustainability aspect become one of the determining elements for the assessors to award the most prestigious trophy to ITM.
This excellence is reflected in the continuity of an organic fertilizer production house run by the Sumber Makmur farmer group which is supported by PT Jorong Barutama Greston (JBG). The production house is situated in Karang Rejo Village, Jorong District, Tanah Laut Regency. At the house, Pak Poniman, chairman of the farmer group, produces bokashi; an organic fertilizer made of fermented organic materials such as rice husks, wood charcoal, and animal dung.
Bokashi farmer groups assistance program by JBG in Karang Rejo Village has been crowned an award from the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration (DPDTT) on June 23, 2022.
The formation of the Sumber Makmur farmer group was facilitated by JBG Community Development (CD) Team in 2010. In the following year, the farmers were provided with bokashi production training held by the JBG CD Team in collaboration with Pusat Pelatihan Pertanian dan Swadaya (P4S) Antanan, an agricultural training center headquartered in Cimande, Bogor.
Equipped with the knowledge and experience gained from the training, 25 members of the Sumber Makmur farmer group started to produce and sell bokashi.
Initially, the group was only able to produce fertilizer in small quantities as most of the production materials were taken from their livestock pens.
Building Reciprocal Benefits
After operating for more than ten years, today Pak Poniman can produce up to 120 tons of bokashi per year. His main buyer is JBG which uses the fertilizer, marketed with the Sahabat Alam Raya brand, for their revegetation activities.
Pak Poniman describes the partnership between his group and JBG as a more than common relationship. From Pak Poniman’s point of view, his group is part of JBG itself and focuses on producing fertilizers. “I always tell anyone who comes to the production house that we are assisted by JBG. When we are facing obstacles, we discussed them with the JBG CD Team. The company helps us to keep going and we help the company by providing them the fertilizers. This makes us feel like we are part of JBG that focus to produce bokashi,” Pak Poniman recalled.
The road that the Sumber Makmur group went through was certainly not easy. From member issues that affected the entire organization and materials price surge to the challenge of penetrating a wider market have always been strengthening elements, said Pak Poniman.
He continued, that when facing challenges, the Group held discussions and consultations with the JBG CD Team. “Like when the price of raw materials soared, we didn't have a choice but to increase the selling price. Thank God, when we conveyed this, the management of JBG was able to take a decision that helped us," Pak Poniman added.
For the CD Team and the Sumber Makmur farmer group, strengthening the organization and improving production houses requires hard work. In January 2022, JBG's management renovated and expanded the storage facility which is currently able to accommodate up to 40 tons of fertilizer.
Furthermore, wider market penetration will be one of the main focuses. The goal is to build the resilience of the Group when JBG has entered the post-production period and accomplished the mine closure phase, Pak Poniman and his colleagues can continue their business.
“In addition to renovating the production house and warehouse, we continue to support Pak Poniman to market fertilizers to communities in the surrounding area, even to Banjarmasin. We provide product labels and bags of 5kg fertilizer packages so that the product can be sold to customers who need a small quantity of fertilizer,” said Pak Rasmat, CD JBG.
