Empowering Housewives’ Economy Through Moringa Leaf Biscuit Production in The Community of Gampoeng Tanjoeng Mulieng

Abstract

This community service program was motivated by the abundant potential of the Moringa plant (Moringa oleifera) in Gampoeng Tanjoeng Mulieng, whose utilization remains limited to simple household consumption. On the other hand, housewives in the area require innovative creative economic activities to improve family welfare. This program aimed to empower the economic capacity of housewives through training in the production of moringa leaf biscuits, which possess high nutritional value and market potential. The method applied was participatory empowerment, consisting of educational sessions on the nutritional benefits of moringa, demonstrations on moringa powder production techniques, biscuit processing training, and packaging strategies. The participants consisted of 20 housewives. Evaluation was conducted by comparing the pre-test and post-test results regarding knowledge and entrepreneurial interest. The results of the program indicated a significant increase in participants’ knowledge, where only 25% of participants were categorized as having good knowledge before the activity, increasing to 95% after the training. In addition, respondents’ entrepreneurial interest reached 100% at the end of the program. This moringa leaf biscuit innovation successfully transformed the community’s perspective toward local plants and opened opportunities for new business units within the village. The outputs achieved included training modules, scientific articles, and mass media publications as efforts to ensure program sustainability.