Seventeen participants—comprising 14 Coastal Fisheries Initiative (CFI) Indonesia Champions and three site managers from WPPNRI areas 717, 715, and 718—took part in the Community Development Training using the Sustainable Livelihood approach, held from April 22 to May 2, 2025, at Pendopo Kembang Kopi, Wagir Subdistrict, Malang Regency, East Java.

This training was part of the GEF-6 CFI Indonesia grant project, aiming to strengthen the capacity of coastal community facilitators in designing and managing inclusive and sustainable community-based empowerment programs.

Pendopo Kembang Kopi itself (which can be loosely translated into Coffee Flower Pavilion) housed a learning forum designed to improve insights and skills in facilitating community groups in sustainable livelihood-based development. In this forum, participants learned the practical and contextual application of sustainable livelihood analysis methods in the community empowerment process.

The implementation of Community Development Training using the Sustainable Livelihood approach. Attended by 17 participants and held from April 22 to May 2, 2025, at Pendopo Kembang Kopi, Wagir Subdistrict, Malang Regency, East Java.

Not only did the eleven-day training involve classroom sessions and facilitation simulations, but also the experience of living with the community through a homestay scheme in two dusuns or hamlets: Dusun Ngemplak and Dusun Gelagah Ombo. Every morning, participants walked to the training location while interacting directly with the community and participating in their daily activities such as farming, cooking, and having informal discussions in their homes. This approach enriched the learning process and deepened the participants' understanding of local social and economic realities.

The training materials were structured systematically and participatively, covering: community development frameworks and community organizing; sustainable livelihood appraisal concepts and applications; participatory data collection methods; problem and root cause analysis; logical thinking frameworks in project cycles as strategic planning tools; Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL); development of Terms of Reference (TOR); as well as best practices and field experiences in community development processes.

This event also served as a space for sharing experiences among participants from different regions, strengthening learning networks and collaboration in coastal resource management.

One of the participants, Novatheodora J. Essuruw, a champion from Kaimana Regency, West Papua, shared her impressions. "This training opened a new mindset about how to think in a simple, easy-to-understand way that can be applied in each region. I would like to thank CFI Indonesia and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, especially the Directorate of Fisheries Resources Management (PSDI), for facilitating this event," she said.

Echoing this, training facilitator Maria Mumpuni shared her reflection on the learning process. “This training became a shared growth space where participants not only gained new knowledge but also honed their sensitivity and reflective abilities in working with communities. Their daily walks among the villagers and immersion in real-life experiences were key to building empathy and a people-centered approach in development facilitation,” Maria explained.

The Community Development Training using the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) training was funded by CFI Indonesia and supported by WWF GEF Agency representative Anton Wijonarno.

Anton, who also mentored the Community Development Training using the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) — also known as the penta-helix development model — offers a new development paradigm, encouraging champions to adopt a critical and constructive stance in implementing CFI projects. “This paradigm is part of the enabling condition components, such as enabling awareness, enabling skills, enabling incentives, and enabling policy. Participants felt that they had gained all five key objectives of the project,” he noted.

“I hope that when they return to their respective villages, they will carry forward the legacy of the CFI project in WPP 715, WPP 717, and WPP 718,” Anton added.

According to CFI Indonesia Project Manager Adipati Rahmat Gumelar, the Champion initiative is driven by CFI Indonesia to affirm the competencies of the best youth representatives from assisted groups in 12 districts/cities across Eastern Indonesia — individuals with the capacity to build communities with sustainable fisheries perspectives. “Through this training and the followings, we will continue to support these Champions, as they are the change agents who will carry forward the mission of CFI, KKP, and GEF — even after the project officially ends — through participatory development, alternative livelihoods, and responsible and measurable fishing practices,” he explained.

This training reinforced the commitment of CFI Indonesia and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia, through the PSDI Directorate, to build the capacity of local communities as the foundation for equitable and sustainable coastal development.