Sustainable Community Empowerment Through the Program of Self-Sufficient Village of Non-Rice Food in Raanan Baru

Abstract Raanan Baru Village has potential in the field of agricultural food crops such as lowland rice, field rice, corn, peanuts, cassava, sweet potatoes, and taro. This potential is less manageable to the maximum because of various problems, such as: cropping systems are still traditional and hereditary, food production is still low, farmers are lack in innovation and limited in creation of agricultural products, non-rice food plants grow wild and not cultivated commercially, farmers’ knowledge related to market access and opportunities is limited, and many other problems. To address these problems, a community service, Program Pemberdayaan Desa Mitra (PPDM) scheme has been carried out for three years (2017-2019) with a focus on developing Raanan Baru Village as a non-rice food independent village. Methods of implementation include: socialization, technical guidance, training, pilot projects, and workshops. The applications of science and technology includes: techniques for cultivating non-rice food crops, improving the quality and diversification of non-rice food crop products, and introducing the basics of entrepreneurship for farmer group partners. Implementation of the activity showed an increase in the competitiveness of non-rice farming products (cassava), an improvement in the existence of natural resources, and an increase in community welfare.