GUNUNGKIDUL —— The arrival of Dompet Dhuafa in the community of Playen District, Gunung Kidul Regency, Yogyakarta, in 2019 has brought about significant progress. Specifically for honey farmers, through an economic empowerment zakat scheme, Dompet Dhuafa gathered 42 honey
farmers from Wanagama Forest to move forward together. The “Omah Madu” community was formed as a place to learn and share knowledge about bees and honey. In addition, the “Sumber Rejeki” cooperative was established to collect honey harvests. This way, members do not have to worry about marketing their products. Everything is facilitated by the cooperative.
Budi, chairman of the Sumber Rejeki cooperative, said that honey production is indeed unpredictable. It all depends on the season. The most honey is produced in the spring, when flowers and leaves grow abundantly. However, Dompet Dhuafa and the members of the Omah Madu community strive to continue harvesting honey even when it is not the season.
Initially, Dompet Dhuafa provided 150 boxes along with the bee colonies inside. After almost a year, the first harvest yielded 32 liters of honey. If multiplied by the price of Rp600,000, the result is around 19.2 million per harvest. Every harvest, the cooperative and each member set aside funds for savings in the cooperative. During Dompet Dhuafa’s visit to Omah Madu on Tuesday (June 7, 2022), the benefits had far exceeded the value of the assistance provided three years ago.
The Omah Madu community named their honey “Madu Masigama,” taken from the name of the Wanagama forest, which stands for Madu Asli Wanagama (Original Wanagama Honey). According to Budi, Masigama honey is currently most popular locally in Gunungkidul. However, if there is excess stock, Omah Madu is willing to ship orders from outside the region.
“At that time, I was skeptical whether honey priced at Rp600,000 could sell well. It turned out that there were many interested buyers. In terms of quality, Masigama honey is widely recognized by honey connoisseurs,” said Budi.
The beneficiaries of the Grand Making Dompet Dhuafa program also admitted to receiving many benefits. One of them is that what used to be difficult to market honey is now easy because it is accommodated by the cooperative. Additionally, the selling price is also higher compared to marketing honey personally.
There was a touching statement that came out of Mr. Budi’s mouth. Of all the expensive honey he had encountered and the income he had earned from honey, nothing could compare to his appreciation for Dompet Dhuafa, which had empowered the people of Playen. He expressed his gratitude to Dompet Dhuafa and its donors.
“I value Dompet Dhuafa more than I value the price of this honey,” he said to the Dompet Dhuafa team.
However, there is one thing that remains a complaint among beekeepers. That is when bee colonies leave/escape from the hives provided. This is especially true if the hives have not yet produced much honey. The reason is that it is very difficult to attract a group of bee colonies to come and stay.
“What makes us sad is when there are boxes that have not produced much honey but the bees have already left. What can we do? Honey farming is not like farming other animals. If they are not comfortable, they will leave,” explained Pak Budi.
To strengthen the Omah Madu community and expand its empowerment, Pak Budi joined several other honey communities, both local and national. From what he observed, he boldly stated that Masigama Honey is the best quality honey among other forest honeys.
“I am a member of several honey communities in Gunungkidul and also outside Gunungkidul. I deliberately bought several honey products, I tried them with Masigama honey, and the results still showed Masigama to be the best,” he said. (Dompet Dhuafa / Muthohar)