Fishermen Empowerment: The Key Role of Human Capital and Joint Business Group Performance in Improving Welfare in Kendari City, Indonesia

Abstract

This study examines the influence of human capital and the performance of joint business groups on the empowerment of fishing communities in Kendari City. The research was conducted in Kendari City, Southeast Sulawesi Province, from October to December 2023. The study population comprises all fishermen who are members of the Joint Business Group, abbreviated as KUB, in Nambo Subdistrict, Kendari City, amounting to 142 individuals. The sample for this study was determined using the census method, which entailed the inclusion of the entire population, or 142 fishermen, as a sample. The exogenous variables in the study, namely human capital and the performance of the fishermen Joint Business Group (KUB), while the endogenous variable, namely the empowerment of the fishing community itself. The research data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to describe or describe the status of human capital variables, the performance of the Joint Business Group (KUB), and the empowerment of fishing communities. Inferential statistics were used to describe and explain the fishing community empowerment model with Partial Least Square (PLS), a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) equation model. The results show that human capital has a positive and significant effect on the performance of joint business groups and the empowerment of fishing communities. In addition, the performance of joint business groups has a positive and significant contribution in improving the empowerment of fishing communities. The indirect effect of human capital is positive and significant through the performance of joint business groups on the empowerment of fishing communities in Kendari City. So that the empowerment of fishing communities will be able to be achieved by increasing the human capital of fishermen through the effective implementation of the Joint Business Group (KUB) program as a forum for learning and community self-development.