Community Empowerment Through Home Industry in Improving Community Welfare in East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine community efforts in running home industries to improve welfare, the government’s role in supporting community home industry activities, and the obstacles to improving community welfare through home industries and how to overcome these. This research was conducted on a home industry in East Java, Indonesia, namely one engaged in the food industry, including providing processed fish, tempeh, emping mlinjo, and banana chips. Data were gathered through observations, interviews, and documentation analysis, and these were then analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s data analysis techniques. The results indicated that efforts to empower a community depend on the community’s degree of autonomy. The community studied was effectively empowered through the home industry, which improved the welfare of the community. The home industry needs to pay attention to business capital, raw materials, production, marketing, and a business spirit to achieve success. The role of the government in the home industry is very important, especially in terms of the policies and assistance that are needed. Barriers to community empowerment through home industries include lack of capital, market opportunities, management, cooperation, and marketing.
 Keywords: empowerment, home industry, community welfare