The Village Community Empowerment Program (P2MD) is an activity organized by the Higher Education in the framework of tertiary service through student organizations to village communities. In 2022 the Knowledge Development Student Activity Unit (UKM PP) of the Politeknik Negeri Semarang (Polines) will divide its members into two teams to implement the program.
The second team with the activity title "Community Empowerment Through Digital Production and Marketing of Palm Sugar Products to Create Creative Economy Independence in Watulawang Hamlet" located in Watulawang Hamlet, Kedungboto Village, Limbangan District, Kendal Regency, Central Java has been successful through a series of P2MD implementation activities.
The second team's P2MD activities involved the community of Watulawang Hamlet as the main partner. P2MD activities will be carried out in September-November 2022. The implementation of P2MD begins with visits to the assisted villages to coordinate and collect data. After that, the team held outreach and various trainings. The training carried out, namely: training on the use of palm sugar processing machines independently, as well as training and marketing assistance for palm sugar production by optimally utilizing digital media such as social media, namely Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and market places such as Shopee, Tokopedia, and Lazada so that it can improve the economy of the people of Watulawang Hamlet. In addition, the team also provided palm sugar processing machines to the residents of Dusun Watulawang to support a more efficient production process.
P2MD activities in 2022 are running smoothly according to the plans that have been designed. In the future the team will periodically monitor village developments and provide input to support the creation of Watulawang Hamlet that is able to compete in the industrial era 4.0.
It is hoped that in the future the P2MD activity program will not only have a positive impact on the implementation of the Watulawang Hamlet community, but also influence change for a larger scope for the surroundings and the participation of the Semarang State Polytechnic to the community.