The Security Food Program to empower the sweet poatoes farmers in Kuningan District has entered the third year. The empowerment process in this West Java area has passed 2 out of 3 main phases, which are group establishment and institutional strengthening. Now, the program will start the end phase : local institution self-sustained/independency. This phase has important role in determining the continuity/sustainability of the program after exit program.

Independency phase will focus on three main points which are financial, managerial and synergy with various stakeholders. Slow but sure, we could see the result. For example a local institution named ISM Mandiri Barokah has already had income source as the embrio for its financial independency. Funds from financing 12 groups and 6 unit businesses are assets that support this local institution which has 116 partners.

With all intensive facilitation and the good learning spirit, the ISM cadres now have basic business management and administration skills. Having these skills and strong willingness to keep learning, it accelerates the dream of ISM to become a professional local institution.

Independency and development of a local institution definitely need a network synergy of various stakeholders, especially for the ones that work in economic aspect. The ability to build a collaboration network will influence the opportunities of marketing, business development and new invetments. Entering the 3rd year, ISM has been able to pioneer a good synergy both with government agencies and business/private sectors. Several collaboration program that owned by ISM for example being part of One Village One Product (OVOP) Program from the Industrial Ministry of Indonesia.

Starting from this OVOP Program, through empowerment program for sweet potatoes farmers in Kuningan, Masyarakat Mandiri (MM) has also been given trust to become candidate for Regional Economic Development Support (REDs) Linkage Program, a collaboration between BAPPENAS and NESO – Netherland with goal to sthengthen the human resource who concern on local economic development issue. This trust was given based on the effort done by MM in doing the process of empowerment and establishment of local institution based on local potencies of cassava in Kuningan District.

Through series of selections by BAPPENAS and UGM, Nur Hamdani S, a program facilitator, representative of MM, was graduated and became part of REDs’ Team of Kuningan District. The team consisted of 7 persons from Regional Planning Agency Kuningan, Industrial and Trade Government  Agency, IKM Lestari Kuningan and MM represented by Nur Hamdani, a program facilitator in Kuningan.

In specific, the REDs’ Team was established with goal to design and implement action plan in the acceleration framework of local economic development in Kuningan District. The concept of action plan refers to two issues which are local institution strengthening and local commodity development.

In order to support the design of action plan, REDs Team had the opportunity to get a shortcource on local economic development at HIS Erasmus University of Rotterdam – The Netherlands on 15 November – 3 December 2010. Previously, there was similar program at UGM Yogyakarta on 30 October – 10 November 2010.