Pemberdayaan KWT Arum Lestari Desa Pandak Banyumas Melalui Inovasi Ipteks Untuk Meningkatkan Kualitas dan Pemasaran Produk Makanan Ringan

Abstract

The Arum Lestari Women Farmers Group in Pandak Village, Banyumas, has a great opportunity in developing the production of snacks made from local agricultural products. The snacks produced are processed sweet potato products. The problems faced include limitations in maintaining product quality, lack of efficiency in the production process, and constraints in marketing and business management. The objective of the community service activity is to improve the quality and effectiveness of marketing the produced snacks. The solutions offered focus on developing important aspects such as: (a) science and technology innovation to improve product quality, (b) strengthening branding, and (c) enhancing digital marketing. The activity implementation method is the Participatory Rural Appraisal method, carried out through activities including: socialization, training, science and technology application, evaluation, and sustainability. The results of the activity show that the empowerment program for the Arum Lestari Women Farmers Group through science and technology innovation successfully achieved its objectives, such as: (a) significantly improving product quality and consistency through process standardization and appropriate technology, (b) increasing production efficiency and capacity, resulting in higher profit margins, and (c) expanding market reach through marketing digitalization, which collectively increased turnover by 85%. Generally, the science technology application activities carried out are considered successful because they brought benefits and could increase the partners' knowledge and skills by 85% from the previous condition.