INNOVATION IN BANANA TREE PROCESSING: 'THE BOX' CRIPS AS A LOCAL ECONOMIC DRIVING ASSET

Abstract

Indonesia, as a fertile agricultural country with various types of plants, has abundant potential from a variety of plants. One of them is the banana tree which is known as the "Tree of a million uses" because each part of this tree has its own useful value. However, not a few are aware that apart from the fruit, the banana stems remaining after harvest also have great potential which unfortunately is often overlooked. This article discusses an innovation called "The BoX" which is a banana stem chip or often known as "Debog". This innovation utilizes banana stem waste, which is rarely processed, from Mantren Village, the majority of which consists of banana trees. The approach used in this research is the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) method which involves active participation from various elements of the Mantren Village community. The results of this innovation program created a superior village product, Chips "The BoX", which has high selling power in the market both offline and on online buying and selling platforms thanks to the uniqueness of the product. This superior product not only opens up new market opportunities, but also creates jobs, supports the local economy, helps raise people's standard of living, and elevates the name of Mantren Village to The Box Chip Processing Center. This banana tree processing innovation can have a positive impact in the long term with optimal socio-economic potential as the main driver of the local economy.