Sustainable

 Social  
Enterprise  Building    
for  Baduy  Tribe’s  
Weavers  
:  a  project  of  balancing  social  and  
financial  development  prototype  
for  tradi7onal  communi7es  

Misna,  35  y.o.,  the  1st    &  only  weaving  teacher  in  Baduy.  
Every  year  she  teaches  3  girls,  2011  is  her  2nd  year.    
(photo  courtesy,  Annissa  Gultom,  2011)  
Baduy  Tribe   of  Kanekes  Hill,  Banten,  West  of  Java,  Indonesia  

•  The  Amish  of  Java  

•  Struggling  to  survive  between  moderniza7on  and  their  effort  
to  stay  in  their  origin  way  of  life  
•  Their  compounds  covers  about  11000  ha  of  forest  and  farm  
land.  
•  Their  popula7on  consists  of  2696  households,  with  5628  male  
and  5550  female  tribe  members  (data  by  May  2010)  
 
Baduy’s  weaving  tradition  
•  Baduy  women’s  own  skills  
•  It  has  died  in  the  core  villages,  and  dying  in  the  outer  
compounds.  
•  The  tradi7on  is  endangered  due  to  due  to  the  low  mo7va7on  
by  young  genera7on  who  become  more  exposed  to  the  
"modern  world".  The  low  selling  point  and  lack  of  publica7on  
also  give  addi7onal  nega7ve  mo7va7on.  
•  The  growing  ecotourism  gave  a  liSle  room  to  sell  the  weaving  
products  as  souvenirs,  but  s7ll  limited  
The  project  
•  It  will  help  the  tribe  preserve  the  tradi7on  by  giving  them  
encouragements.  These  encouragements  will  be  in  the  form  of  
increasing  their  selling  point  monetarily  and  pres7ge.  
•  It  will  empowered  their  women  to  give  addi7onal  income  for  
the  family.    
•  It  will  run  for  12  months,  by  adjus7ng  every  stages  with  the  
tribe’s  annual  agenda  
•  There  will  be  midterm  evalua7ons  throughout  the  project  that  
will  resulted  in  the  form  of  seminar  or  publica7on  
The  project  
It  will  focus  on  the  balance  of  three  aspects:  
•  The  con7nuity  of  the  heritage  teaching  to  younger  genera7on  
•  The  entrepreneurship  development  that  will  correlate  heavily  
to  mo7vate  the  heritage  preserva7on  to  con7nued  
•  A  sustainable  business  plan  that  will  ensure  a  las7ng  
development  aTer  this  project  finished  
Project  Breakdown  
I.  Business  Plan  &  Market  Demand  Building    

•  The  profit  margin  formula7on  and  manufacturing  speed  will  

be  adjusted  to  their  tradi7onal  annual  agenda.  This  is  
important  so  that  their  way  of  living  and  main  livelihood  will  
not  be  disturbed  
•  The  product  will  not  be  sold  as  a  mass  product,  but  more  as  an  
item  with  addi7onal  value  and  must  be  respected  as  a  cultural  
product.  This  will  prevent  the  tribe  to  be  overrun  by  sales  
target.  
•  We  are  going  to  provide  them  contacts  to  possible  niche  
markets.  This  market  could  stretch  from  nearby  souvenir  
shops,  museum  and  gallery  shops,  to  cultural/ethnic  product  
providers  (either  local  or  interna7onal).  By  having  a  possible  
market  ready,  there  will  be  market  demand  that  will  be  the  
mo7va7on  for  the  weavers  to  join  our  program.  
II.  Apprentice  &  Business  Associate  Program  

•  Interested  weavers  will  be  able  to  join  our  program  with  a  
condi7on  of  1  weaver  for  1  new  weaver.  Weavers  must  adopt  
an  appren7ce,  somebody  from  her  neighborhood.  The  
appren7ce  program  could  also  work  by  1  experienced  to  
adopt  1  amateur  appren7ce  for  them  to  increase  their  skills.  
Overachiever  appren7ces  will  be  funded  to  have  their  own  
weaving  tools  aTer  the  first  three  months  of  their  study.  
•  Business  associates  from  Baduy  people  and  from  modern  
villages  nearby  will  be  recruited.  This  is  to  keep  the  sale  
process  running.  They  will  taught  transparent  accoun7ng,  fare  
trade  share  and  other  suppor7ng  subject  
III.  Online  Store  and  Sale  Process  
•  We  will  establish  a  website  and  online  store  for  them  and  will  
taught  them  how  to  maintain  them.  An  intense  mentoring  in  
this  part  is  significant  since  computer  knowledge  in  the  area  is  
limited  and  we  may  have  to  figure  out  easier  way  for  them  to  
be  online,  such  as  through  their  mobile  phone.  
•  Along  with  the  Appren7ce  program,  the  business  associate  
that  we  recruited  will  be  mentored  and  taught  how  to  run  the  
sale  process.  The  business  educa7on  will  cover  how  to  
connect  and  maintain  the  demand,  branding  and  also  
packaging.  
IV.  Cultural  Centre  and  Continued  Initiative  

•  As  this  is  a  collec7ve  ini7a7ve,  a  cultural  center  is  needed  to  

be  the  center  of  the  ac7vity,  especially  aTer  the  project  is  
finished.  The  center  will  provide  informa7on  and  weaving  
workshop  for  enthusiasts  and  outsiders.  This  will  hopefully  be  
addi7onal  mo7va7on  for  the  younger  genera7on.  

•  Local  Baduys  will  become  the  "expert"  of  the  weaving,  helping  
people  to  learn  about  the  history,  the  philosophy,  and  the  
ways  to  develop  mo7ves  and  how  to  weave.  

•  The  daily  run  of  this  center  also  adjusted  to  their  annual  
agenda  
Project  Stage  &  Baduys’  Annual  Agenda  
Stages   Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec  

WT   HT   WT   WS   FW   WT  

Coordina7on  

Market  Research  and  communica7on  

Socializa7on  to  Baduy  People  

EVALUATION  

Baduy  weavers  recruitment  

Apren7ce  program  starts  

Sales  ac7vi7ty  

EVALUATION  

Management  transi7onal  period  

Publica7on  &  report  

WT:  Weaving  Time  //  HT  :  Harvest  Time  //  WS:  Wedding  Season  //  FW  :  Field  Work    
 Inquiries:  annissagultom@gmail.com  

Marno,  8  y.o.,  maybe  the  Yirst  Baduy  Male  in  history  whose  interested  to  weave.  His  mother  is  the  1st  and  only  
weaving  teacher  in  the  compound.  (photo  courtesy,  annissagultom,  2011)