The process of making wild boar sausage “Bleef” by participants of the Sausage Making Training, collaboration with EcoNusa Foundation, at the Lingkar Jerat Papua Cooperative production house. (EcoNusa Foundation)
Wild boar has an important meaning for most people in Tanah Papua because it is one of the main sources of protein consumed. This mammal is one of the animals traditionally hunted by the indigenous people in Tanah Papua. Apart from being consumed by the family, wild boar meat is also a source of livelihood because the meat can be processed and sold to increase the income.
Seeing these opportunities, Lingkar Jerat Papua Cooperative as a community-based business entity exists as a business house for processing wild boar meat that comes from being hunted by the community. By Lingkar Jerat Papua, the people hunted are bought, then processed and resold to the wider community, especially in the city area of Sorong.
“In this cooperative, we buy the wild boar meat from the hunting communities, to be processed into several products then resell,” said Paskalis Awak, Head of the Lingkar Jerat Papua Cooperative, when interviewed on 20 March 2022. There are two types of products produced by the Lingkar Jerat Papua Cooperative, namely wild boar chops and wild boar sausages.
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The process conducted by Lingkar Jerat Cooperative is one of the ways to strengthen the local community’s economy. Thus EcoNusa Foundation supported the cooperative by facilitating the Sausage Processing Training last 20-22 March 2023, at the Lingkar Jerat Cooperative Production House in Papua, Sorong, Southwest Papua. This training was the follow up training, after previously being held in 2021 via online.
The Lingkar Jerat Papua Cooperative began processing meat into sausages right after they participated at the training in 2021. However, the quality of the sausages was not yet optimal and needed to be improved. “There were many complaints from consumers that our sausages were not chewy, they had an inconsistent taste, and when it’s fried, they broke easily. We need to fix this, so our sausages become high quality products,” said Paskalis.
Five participants who were members of the Lingkar Jerat Papua Cooperative attended the training guided by Piter Pasampang. This training was also attended by veterinarian Firdiana and veterinarian Mitha as representatives of the Sorong City Animal Husbandry Service who have assisted the Lingkar Jerat Papua Cooperative since its inception in 2018.
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On the first day, the participants were given another explanation about the importance of spices and other raw materials for making sausages. After that, on the second day, the participants were invited to make sausages using the initial recipe, then make sausages which were prepared according to the recipe adapted to the training. From the two different recipes and processes, the sausages produced using the training recipe this time are better in terms of taste, aroma, texture, and appearance.
On the last day, the participants invited guests and partners who were present at the training, also the community that lives around the production house, to a taste-test of the sausage with the new recipe. All taste-test participants were asked to fill out an assessment form about the quality which resulted in positive responses about the new recipe on the sausages.
“It’s delicious. Keep it up, lots of production and must be consistent. That way, hopefully the Lingkar Jerat Papua Cooperative can contribute to the economic growth of the community, especially in Sorong City,” said Firdiana while tasting wild boar sausages made from training.
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After the training, the Lingkar Jerat Papua Cooperative was ready to start producing sausages with a new and improved recipe. These sausages will be ready for public sale shortly. They will also implement intensifying the offers to the customers as part of their marketing strategy. “Bleef” products of sausages and sliced meat, will also be ready in supermarkets in Sorong City and its surroundings. This is expected to increase sales of Bleef products which leads to an impact on increasing the economic level of the indigenous people in Tanah Papua.
Improving people’s welfare, especially in Tanah Papua is important and has become our main goal. However, the way of life and local wisdom that they have must also be maintained as part of preserving the existing culture. That way, the economy can still be improved without losing local communities’ wisdom.
Editor: Nur Alfiyah, Swiny Adestika
