Masarang Foundation is a grassroots organization working with remote communities in Indonesia. They are creating closed loop sustainable systems to process high value jungle produce using modern technology.

Two great videos that explain systems that Willie Smites, the founder of Masarang, has put into place today in Indonesia, one in Sulawesi and the other in Borneo.

The village hub is a system that supports local palm sugar collectors in Sulawesi. By bringing them together to process the sugar at centralized hubs it decreases their workload and increases their profits. The system has zero waste output and has synergistic properties with far reaching implications that can bring remote jungle communities out of poverty without destroying their natural capital. Harmoniously harvesting the current solar income of the jungle.

More recent example of a similar system that processes tengkawang nuts to support the local community in Borneo without destroying the jungle. Offers a stark contrast to the top down approach of clear felling the rainforest to make way for palm oil plantations.

Appropriate technology tailored to existing local economy. A practical vision for the future of rural Indonesia.