Judul: Strategy to Develop Areca Nut Downstream Products in Aceh Province
Abstrak: This study explored the potentials of areca nut downstream products to be developed in Aceh province. Areca nut industry is potential to be developed in Aceh due to the number of benefits from the nuts, by-products, and the great production of areca nut. The development of areca nut industry will prosper the people who rely on farming as the main livelihood. This research also providing alternatives strategies for development the high value-added products of areca nut industry in Aceh. This research was used in-depth interview and study literature to find the potential products and the most suitable strategy for the development areca nut agroindustry. Gap analysis and benefit effort analysis were used to determine the most favourable strategy to be applied in Aceh Province. Meanwhile, value add formulation and analysis were used to measure the added value of processed products. The results of value addition analysis revealed tannin and natural dye as the most potential products to be developed in Aceh. By transforming one kilogram areca nut into tannin and natural dye will add value Rp 127.000 and Rp 140.000, respectively. Moreover, the development of areca nut downstream products in Aceh is feasible and may prosper of all areca nut stakeholders due to the increasing of awareness on sustainable environment and highly concern on healthy lifestyles. Based on gap analysis, there are four crucial problems in areca nut agroindustry, namely cultivation, process, market, innovation and entrepreneurship. The strategies that derived from each category can be complementary to each other to attain a high value-added agricultural product. Based on the expert judgment, procuring the superior quality of areca nut’s seed will enhance the cultivation of areca nut. On the other hand, the experts concur that the processing issues could be handled by providing appropriate technology-drying equipment to the farmers. In addition, in the market category, the experts agree that the community and all stakeholders lack knowledge about areca nut downstream products. Afterward, innovation and entrepreneurship are the ultimate criteria for the development of the downstream products of areca nut, which is related to human resources. In this case, the training for honing entrepreneurial skills has been assessed as the most decisive strategy. The series of strategies will be recommended to the government and hopefully could be applied in Aceh to develop Areca nut downstream products. This strategy is expected to enhance cooperation between stakeholders to support the development of high value-added areca nut products in Aceh. Furthermore, the entrepreneur might seize the opportunity of new business by developing areca nut products, while government can take this research as the basis of policy making., Pinang merupakan salah satu komoditas perkebunan yang memiliki potensi besar untuk dikembangkan di Provinsi Aceh. Pengembangan industri pinang akan mensejahterakan masyarakat yang mengandalkan perkebunan sebagai sumber mata pencaharian utama. Penelitian ini memberikan alternatif strategi untuk pengembangan produk turunan pinang yang memiliki nilai tambah tinggi di Aceh. Data untuk menemukan produk yang paling potensial untuk dikembangkan diperoleh melalui wawancara dengan narasumber dan kajian literature. Formulasi strategi pada penelitian ini menggunakan metode Gap Analisis dan untuk memilih strategi yang paling sesuai menggunakan
Keyword: Agroindustry, Areca nut, Strategy, Value addition