Community-Based Economic Empowerment in a Human Ecology Perspective: An Analysis of the Pahlawan Ekonomi Nusantara Program in Indonesia

• Salwa Annisa Khoiriah

  Politeknik Kesejahteraan Sosial Bandung

  Author

This study examines the implementation of the Pahlawan Ekonomi Nusantara (PENA) program as a community-based economic empowerment initiative within a local socio-ecological context in Kecamatan Pagelaran, Indonesia. Grounded in the person-in-environment and human ecology perspectives, the research aims to analyze how empowerment processes are shaped by interactions between individuals, community environments, and institutional practices. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews, observation, and document analysis involving program beneficiaries transitioning from the Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) and social facilitators responsible for program implementation. The findings reveal that the alignment of program support with beneficiaries’ existing livelihood systems enhanced economic agency and facilitated movement toward self-reliance. Social facilitators played a critical mediating role in translating policy objectives into locally meaningful practices, significantly influencing program outcomes. However, the sustainability of empowerment remained contingent upon institutional capacity, market conditions, and continued facilitation support. From an ethical governance perspective, the study highlights tensions between promoting self-reliance and the potential transfer of structural risks to vulnerable individuals. The study contributes to human ecology scholarship by demonstrating that economic empowerment is not a linear outcome but a relational and ongoing socio-ecological process. Policy implications emphasize the need for adaptive facilitation, strengthened institutional support, and ethically grounded governance to ensure inclusive and sustainable livelihood development, particularly in Global South contexts.

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