Development of Creative Bamboo-Woven Products as an MSME Empowerment Initiative in Cikitu Village

Abstract

This community service program addressed the declining sustainability and limited economic value of traditional bamboo weaving in Cikitu Village, Pacet Subdistrict, Bandung Regency, by developing alternative creative products based on existing local craftsmanship. The program aimed to develop bamboo-woven keychain prototypes and identify their production opportunities and constraints as an initial pathway for strengthening MSME empowerment. A participatory approach was applied through field observation, interviews, collaborative discussions, direct production practice, mentoring, and descriptive evaluation involving three active bamboo-weaving artisans. The intervention adapted weaving patterns already mastered by the artisans, including the traditional hihid form, into smaller functional products without introducing fundamentally new weaving techniques. The program produced more than ten bamboo-woven keychain prototypes, demonstrating the feasibility of transforming existing local skills into alternative product forms. The production process also revealed that product miniaturization did not automatically improve efficiency because smaller dimensions required greater precision, repeated adjustments, and potentially longer processing time. The preliminary price of IDR 5,000 per unit could not yet represent economic feasibility because raw materials, labor, processing time, packaging, and other production costs had not been fully calculated. The findings indicate that participatory product innovation can provide an initial pathway for community empowerment when creative adaptation remains aligned with artisan skills, production feasibility, and realistic economic considerations. Further development requires product refinement, full-cost calculation, appropriate pricing, packaging improvement, and market testing before broader commercialization.