In a vast oil palm plantation, the blacksmith profession is the least job that we expected to find. This profession, which is synonymous with legends and historical stories such as the story of Mpu Gandhring’s Keris, is rarely found in the current Indonesian society. However, if we walk down the streets around Saruddu Village, Sulawesi, we can find Gani’s blacksmith workshop with customers coming in every day. Gani’s customers mostly come from oil palm plantations around the Pasangkayu and Central Mamuju regions. Gani serves orders for the manufacture and repair of various oil palm harvesting equipment, such as knives for dodos and egrek. His business started to make a profit after the presence of palm oil plantations nearby.
“Before the oil palm plantation, we didn’t even have one inch of land,” Gani said. In the past, he even had to go into debt to buy rice and other daily needs. Gani’s workshop began to grow rapidly since he received training from the IGA (Income Generating Activity) program organized by PT SAL 1 (Surya Raya Lestari), a subsidiary of PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk. Gani received assistance to develop his business as well as capital assistance from the MFI (Micro Finance Institution).
“In the past, I did not know the importance of safety equipment, but I realized this since the company introduced the concept of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for work.” Thanks to the safety training provided, Gani, who previously worked without equipment, now wears a number of PPE such as gloves and ear protectors to prevent injury when forging iron.
Besides safety, the company also taught Gani a bookkeeping system to make it easier for him to manage his business income. “I started recording my business income and expenses in a notebook, so that I can find out how much profit I get from this blacksmithing business.” Thanks to perseverance and good business management, Gani is now one of the successful MSME players around Saruddu Village. “I am happy if my skills as a blacksmith can benefit many people,” said Gani.
