Women’s group increases income by making candlenut oil

The forest of the Indudur Nagari community in West Sumatra in Indonesia is rich in forest products, including the candlenut. You can make all kinds of products from candlenuts to increase the value, such as oil. However, this potential had not yet been fully exploited by the inhabitants. Uni Mirna and 4 other women saw an opportunity to train others to increase their income.

In the forests of the Indudur Nagari community there are many candlenut trees. However, sales of the nut yielded relatively little for the women who harvest them.

Opportunity to increase income

Uni Mirna and 4 other women from the Indudur women’s group saw an opportunity to increase their income by producing oil from the nuts. This did not happen overnight. The majority of women were initially not convinced to invest much time in this.

High quality oil

However, that didn’t stop Uni Mirna and some others from trying it. The group of women received training from a local university and kept practicing how to make high quality oil from the nuts. They were supported in this by our partner organisation WARSI, which also facilitated contacts between the local government and the women’s group. The women’s group succeeded; seven groups are now producing oil and the ‘Indudur’ oil has found its way to the market.

In this video, produced by our partner organisation WARSI, Uni Mirna shows what persistence and the potential of forest products can result in.

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