Keywords

Poverty Alleviation, Community Empowerment, Public Entrepreneurship.

Introduction

Poverty is a problem that is generally faced in almost all developing countries, especially countries that are densely populated like Indonesia. That is why poverty reduction has always been a program of the regime that is powerful and attractive to be used as scientific discourse. Various poverty reduction programs that became government policies were marked by the issuance of the Presidential Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 15 of 2010 concerning the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction. The purpose of issuing these regulations is to realize the vision and mission of the President who can reduce poverty by 8-10 percent by the end of 2014.

Pohuwato Regency in Gorontalo Province is an area with a poverty rate of around 20 percent over the past five years (Central Statistics Agency, 2017). This poverty rate is above the national average (around 10 percent) and until now it has not shown a significant decline. The high level of poverty in this area is caused by the lack of a well-implemented approach to development based on the target community (beneficiaries) of the program. It is less realized that the problem of poverty is very complex, and it does not involve the poor themselves as program targets. Poverty alleviation programs from the national level to the regions have tended to be partial and unsustainable. Also, the role of the business community and society in general is not optimal.

Meanwhile, social volunteerism in people's lives which can be a source of empowerment and solving the root causes of poverty also begins to fade. Poverty itself has not been seen as a very tragic human disaster. As a global phenomenon that is very alarming, poverty must be resolved because it is a constitutional mandate (Jabes, 2005; Lewis, 1988).

Literature Review

Poverty is a common problem that must be taken seriously, between the government, the private sector and the community. Concern and awareness among fellow citizens are expected to help reduce poverty. Kooiman (1993) explained that the need to change the pattern of governance from the concept of government to governance as a form of social political interaction between the government and the community in dealing with contemporary problems that are so complex, dynamic, and diverse.

In the concept of public administration, there are two things that are emphasized, namely how far or how much the government's ability to overcome any public problems that arise, and in the legal perspective means more that the scope of public administration concerns the actualization of community rights through the implementation of every public policy, where public policy is a legal product that must be obeyed by citizens and the government (Shafritz et al., 2016).

Based on the Presidential Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia number 54 of 2005 (Royat, 2007), in the poverty alleviation program to be realized, namely governance management based on organized community participation, carried out with full openness, a healthy and accountable competitive climate (Farida et al., 2015). The implementation of regional government follows and prioritizes the wants and needs of the people proposed in a participatory, empowering manner.

Some experts (Crook, 2003; Farida et al., 2015; Jabes, 2005; Wenda & Akib, 2015) agree that, development is a deliberate process to achieve better conditions. There are two development paradigms that have been carried out so far, namely the top-down paradigm and bottom-up approach (Chambers, 1994; Crook, 2003; Jabes, 2005). A top-down paradigm is a form of blueprint strategy as a development paradigm that is sourced from the government, thus the community is merely a target or object of development. Whereas the bottom-up development paradigm is a development paradigm that positions the community as a people center development so that it is involved in the planning process until implementation and evaluation.

The bottom-up paradigm is the ideal approach in development that pays attention to initiative, creativity and accommodates the socio-cultural conditions of the local area, potential and problems faced. Starting from that the development of the poor should have a nuance of empowerment. Usman (1998), argues that the need for efforts to alleviate the poor from the valley of poverty, namely through strategies to find relevant solutions to solve the problem by first looking for dominant factors (both cultural and structural) that cause poverty.

Mafruhah (2009) states that poor people have habits that are different from most people. Negative attitudes, such as: Lazy, fatalism or surrender to fate, feelings of worthlessness, helplessness, high dependence and a sense of inferiority do not have an entrepreneurial spirit and lack respect for the work ethic. Such an attitude will influence empowerment. As a result, the socio-cultural values of the community, and the people's economic business are not well developed.

Community-based poverty alleviation programs are far from the nature of participation and independence because they do not touch the side of fulfilling basic needs, developing inspiration and aspirations. Three aspects commonly known in community empowerment programs, namely assistance, facilitation and promotion have not been implemented properly.

Making poor households into a proactive unit and by a group that develops, the Lasim is carried out with assistance (for example in the form of training, consultations and technical systems, and the like), if the assisted community is still categorized as productive. According to Jamasy (2004) "At least there are three commonly known aspects, namely assistance, facilitation, and promotion. If some abilities have been acquired into the form of a low-ability community, then an alternative that needs to be developed is the promotion model assistance in certain fields is needed." The three activities must be carried out sustainably so that the poor have the power and access to resources.

Jamasy (2004) emphasizes that the framework of thinking in the empowerment process contains at least three important objectives consisting of: First, creating an atmosphere or climate that enables the potential of the community to develop; Second, strengthen the potential or power possessed by the community or group that will be empowered, for example through improving the level of education, improving health status, and increasing access to sources of progress; and Third, efforts to protect (prevent) the occurrence of unbalanced competition, create justice, and create togetherness and partnership between those who have developed and those who have not yet developed. Empowerment by emphasizing the three provisions above, will be a superior strategy and will have a positive impact on the decline in poverty.

Methodology

This study uses descriptive qualitative research with a case study approach to reveal the meaning of phenomena or poverty alleviation cases based on empowerment programs in Pohuwato Regency, Indonesia. The research location in Pohuwato Regency has based on the consideration that this region has a poverty rate above the national target of 21.17 percent. The focus of the research is the empowerment of the poor through assistance, facilitation and promotion activities. Empowerment of the poor through assistance is an activity in the form of training, consultation and technical assistance, and similar activities in a synergy that leads to the giving of power/power that makes the poor people empowered and independent. Empowerment of the poor through facilitation is an activity in the form of providing facilities in a synergy that enables the poor to have the ability to change themselves to be more productive and independent. Empowerment of the poor through promotion is to regulate the poor by cooperating and synergizing with institutions/organizations (Government, Private Sector, Non-Governmental Organizations) to develop responsive services in an effort to create awareness, inform, persuade and influence the poor to meet their needs in the field certain fields that allow him to be independent.

The data collection uses interview techniques for 24 informants representing stakeholders, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and residents of the poor. The informant's specifications include employees of the Gorontalo Provincial Development Planning Agency (1 person), Gorontalo Province Community Empowerment Agency (2 people). Then, the informant represented the Pohuwato District Community Empowerment Agency (2 people), the Regional Development Planning Board of Pohuwato Regency (1 person), Non-Governmental Organizations/NGOs (3 people), sub-district government (3 people), Village government (3 people), Community leaders (2 people), Religious leaders (2 people), legislative members of Pohuwato Regency (1 person), and chairman of the community empowerment group (5 people). In this study also conducted Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with stakeholders and relevant documentation studies, as well as observing the behavior of members of the community empowerment group. Descriptive-qualitative data analysis techniques are carried out through data collection activities, data condensation, data presentation, and verification/conclusion drawing (Miles et al., 2014).

Results And Discussion

The research findings show that the implementation of poverty alleviation programs is still top-down. The coordination of relevant Ministries and Ministries and the intervention of the central government is very strong, making the role of the Regional Government less than the village level. This resulted in the goal of empowerment being neglected because of facilitators appointed by the Ministry of Social Affairs' decision as program facilitators were more likely to prioritize administrative accountability than to maximize the goal of empowering the poor. The weakness of the bureaucratic character that has been practiced for about four decades, has not been felt by the community. The lack of fundamental changes felt by the community.

The management of training programs, consultations and technical assistance for the poor are still very centralized including the assistance of other programs, both direct and indirect. The implementation of the program which is still nuanced by the political system is practiced authoritatively. The poor are always in a marginal position, both programs that are direct or indirect and are managed by the community groups themselves. The direct training activities include in the field of capture fisheries for fisherman, in the field of developing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) regarding business management and marketing training. Indirect programs in the form of training in business development and quality development in the field of fisheries and utilization of agricultural products. The training programs were previously socialized to the target community, but began planning until implementation, entirely on the initiative and intervention of the Government through the Regional Organization (OPD) and the Village Government.

Assistance activities in order to empower the poor in Pohuwato Regency, have not been maximized. Training activities, consultations and technical assistance, and other similar activities have not been coordinated with other supporting programs, making it difficult for facilitators to carry out assistance activities. The synergy between programs and among stakeholders who are expected to maximize activities, is hampered by a very tight system of budget administration accountability. Training activities, consultations and technical assistance, as well as similar activities that lead to the provision of power/strength, have not been synergized with other activities that make poor people empowered and independent. These activities have not succeeded in building critical awareness, mapping the potential, problems and needs of the community and implementing participatory planning, community organizing, resource mobilization, supervision, and maintenance of the results of the development of the Pohuwato Regency.

Empowerment of the poor through facilitation activities, namely providing facilities that enable the poor to have the ability to change themselves to be more productive and independent and carried out synergistically. The results showed that the provision of infrastructure facilities and infrastructure that could increase the capacity of the community was supported by non-cash facilities in the form of National Health Insurance (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional/JKN), Family Welfare Card (Kartu Keluarga Sehat/KKS), Smart Indonesia Program (Program Indonesia Pintar/PIP), Hope Family Program (Program Keluarga Harapan/PKH), and the provision of Rice for Poor Families (Bantuan beras orang miskin/Raskin), but the poor do not have the "power" to improve their quality of life. The facilities provided have not led to an increase in the productivity of the poor. Likewise, other facilities in the form of institutions that are expected to help the poor improve capacity include the formation of local institutions (Community Self-Help Groups/Kelompok Swadaya Masyarakat/KSM), assistance, training, and Community Direct Assistance (Bantuan langsung Masyarakat/BLM), assistance submitted directly to the community. The BLM fund is allocated per sub-Regency, the amount of the value depends on the population.

Provision of village infrastructure funded by APBD funds is also difficult to access by the community, because generally these programs are carried out in the form of three-sided projects (Contracted to the private sector), including slum improvement programs spread across villages. Thus it can be stated that the Regional Government has not maximally synergized community empowerment programs through the provision of facilities, because of the difficulty of coordinating development programs in the regions related to poverty alleviation. Empowerment programs for the poor through the provision of facilities have not been able to increase the capacity of the community. The low capacity and quality of service of the government apparatus from the regional level to the rural level has led to the provision of poor facilities that enable the involvement of the poor.

Empowerment of the poor through promotional activities, is empowering the poor by collaborating and synergizing with institutions/organizations (Government, Private Sector, NGOs) to develop responsive services in an effort to create awareness, inform, persuade and influence the poor so that they can meet their needs in the field-certain fields that allow him to be independent. The collaboration in question requires the initiation of regional leaders from the upper level (Regent/Bupati) to the lower levels (Village Heads). Leaders at the lower level (Camat and Kepala Desa), as vioners in motivating and mobilizing village communities, must be supported by leadership at the top level. Building cooperation that involves stakeholders requires power (power) and the ability to make decisions, especially in budget allocation. In promoting the empowerment of the poor, the Regional Government has sought to develop services by designing activities by functioning village community institutions, collaborating with other stakeholders such as NGOs and synergizing with the private sector, in order to develop responsive services. Among other things regarding providing business capital assistance involves banking institutions so that the community has the motivation that the funds provided are to increase their business and not grants that do not need to be returned. However, not all poor people have the willingness to try and always expect assistance in the form of grants although it has been socialized to them by telling, persuading and influencing in order to create awareness using the ability to empower themselves by always trying to be productive.

The results of the study found that the success of empowerment-based poverty alleviation programs was determined by its determinant factors. These factors consist of communication factors, resources, disposition (attitude), and bureaucratic structure. These four factors can only be a supporting factor if optimized, and vice versa will be an inhibiting factor if it is not effective.

Based on the analysis of the results carried out, the research findings can be sorted as follows:

1. The main actors implementing the empowerment-based poverty alleviation program are played by implementors of government officials from the district, district and village levels who partner with the private sector and stakeholders. The main actors are intertwined in a well-coordinated partnership collaboration mechanism to improve synergy in the activities of assistance, facilitation and promotion.

2. Interactions that synergize between the government, the private sector and stakeholders in the activities of assistance, facilitation, and promotion of the implementation of empowerment programs depend on the behavior of transparency and consistency of partnerships between government, the private sector and stakeholders. The partnership between the three components is not optimal regarding the actualization of the principle of transparency and consistency, resulting in the occurrence of interest gaps and the phenomenon of sectoral egoism.

3. Empowerment based poverty alleviation on an ongoing basis depends on collaboration and coordination of government, the private sector and stakeholders, thus encouraging interaction in the activities of assistance, facilitation, and promotion of the implementation of empowerment programs. In other words, the success of empowerment-based poverty alleviation programs depends on the factors of collaboration and coordination of government, private sector and stakeholders, which interact synergistically in the activities of assistance, facilitation, and promotion of the implementation of empowerment programs.

4. Interactions that synergize in the activities of assistance, facilitation, and continuous promotion in the implementation of empowerment programs, are intermediate variables of latent variables, namely the partnership of government, the private sector, and stakeholders in increasing the independence of the poor.

5. These findings can be constructed in a "Prototype model of poverty alleviation strategies based on empowerment." This model can implicitly be a model of empowering the poor that is established in the collaboration and coordination of government, the private sector and stakeholders with the principle of sustainable transparency and consistency in behavior. In order to reduce the disparity in interests between actors in the implementation of empowerment programs. In a sense, poverty alleviation is based on empowerment in the perspective of governance, strengthening existing social norms and values, thereby encouraging lower levels of society to actively involve themselves in each development activity, serving one another, as a manifestation of actualization of the socio-cultural values adopted Gorontalo community, namely: “adat bersendikan sara”, sara “bersendikan kitabullah” (Syam et al., 2018).

Based on the analysis of the results of the study, in detail some propositions can be described to recommend the prototype model of poverty reduction strategies based on community empowerment as follows:

1. Poverty alleviation based on community empowerment, requires collaboration between government, private sector and stakeholders who coordinate in activities of assistance, facilitation and promotion in a sustainable manner. This means that the more synergies the role of the government, the private sector and stakeholders in the activities of assistance, facilitation and promotion will increase the independence of the poor.

2. Community based poverty alleviation requires communication, human resources, disposition and an adaptive bureaucratic structure. The more communicative the community empowerment program, the more available resources are available, the better the attitude of the apparatus in service coupled with the increasingly adaptive bureaucratic structure of the empowerment program, the greater the independence of the community.

Based on the results, findings, minor and major propositions, and referring to the perspectives of experts through the construction of theories that form the basis of this research, the researcher can design a prototype strategy model as novelty as follows: "The success of poverty alleviation programs based on empowerment the community is actually carried out through a 5-C approach, namely: 1) communication, 2) coordination, 3) collaboration, 4) cooperatives, and 5) consciousness, so as to create community independence (proactive, creative, productive, innovative) in fulfilling basic needs of the community based on the application of the principle of sustainable public entrepreneurship" Figure 1.

The prototype of the poverty alleviation strategy model based on the empowerment of the poor is described as follows:

Communication

The process of delivering information about the policy of poverty alleviation programs by the government and the private sector to the target that is carried out intensely in the activities of extension, facilitation, and promotion, in order to minimize distortions in the implementation of the program. The more intensive (good) communication between the government and the private sector to the target community in implementing poverty alleviation programs through assistance, facilitation and promotion, will have an impact on the independence of the community, as well as the community can sustainably fulfill the basic need of the community people who have the spirit of public entrepreneurship.

Coordination

Actions aimed at synchronizing, regulating, and directing activities to produce uniform and harmonious activities at predetermined targets. Coordination is intended so that the government and the private sector can synergize community empowerment programs that exist in each OPD and so that the program does not overlap. Increasingly coordinating government and private sector with OPD in implementing community empowerment programs through activities of assistance, facilitation, and promotion will have an impact on community independence in meeting their basic needs on an ongoing basis.

Collaboration

The creation of cooperative relations at the government level and at the non-government level, where the private sector and the community become important partners who participate in empowerment programs based on a commitment to achieving goals. Increasingly collaborating and partnering with the government, the private sector and the community in implementing poverty alleviation programs through assistance, facilitation and promotion activities will have an impact on the creation of community independence (proactive, creative, and innovative) in meeting the basic needs of the community sustainably.

Cooperative

The process of cooperation, mutual understanding and mutual assistance between stakeholders (government, private and community) that do not cause conflict in the implementation of community empowerment programs. The more cooperative government, private sector and society in the activities of assistance, facilitation and promotion, will have an impact on the creation of community independence (proactive, creative, and innovative) in meeting the basic needs in a sustainable manner.

Consciousness

Awareness of government together with the private sector in implementing empowerment programs for poverty alleviation. The more aware/alert the Government and the private sector in the implementation of empowerment programs through the activities of assistance, facilitation and promotion, will have an impact on the creation of community independence (proactive, creative, and innovative) in meeting the basic needs in a sustainable manner.

The successful implementation of a community empowerment strategy-based poverty reduction program constructed in the activities of assistance, facilitation and promotion is expected to be able to change the "Social-economic-cultural life status" of the powerless poor to become empowered and developing communities because they have valuable creativity and innovation (Farida et al., 2015; Syam et al., 2018) through a public entrepreneurship approach (Akib, 2009; Alvarez & Barney, 2014; Bruton et al., 2013; Carraher et al., 2003; McKenzie et al., 2007). The results and impacts on a sustainable basis are the creation of productive independent (empowered) communities and better or improved quality of life.

The public entrepreneurship approach is also directed through the empowerment of innovative community groups, such as the creative endeavors of groups to bail out the provision of business capital for their members and the ability to build access to marketing information in order to promote the results of their business (Syam et al., 2018). In this case, community groups are given learning about how to manage productive businesses. This empowerment activity is a form of economic and welfare revitalization. With the spirit of public entrepreneurship that is owned by the citizens of the poor will have an impact on their ability to overcome social problems (poverty) faced in everyday life. The spirit of public entrepreneurship can also open up new concepts in the context of entrepreneurs who are economic agents by utilizing the power of innovation that encourages them to produce new thoughts in their products accompanied by the courage to take risks for what is done. This is in line with Schumpeter's view that the characteristics of entrepreneurs are innovators, dare to take risks, and can allocate available resources efficiently, effectively and sustainably.

Based on the findings of the study, the application of the principles of public entrepreneurship is understood as the right alternative to increasing the economic and social life expectancy of the poor. This finding supports the recommendations of a study conducted by Syam et al. (2018) that the management of development programs and public assets can be carried out appropriately, effectively, efficiently, sustainably, and fulfill the expectations of stakeholders in the form of "Autonomy/independence of citizens" and realizing community Governance Good (GSG), it is necessary to be based on the application of the principles of public entrepreneurship. The application of the perspective of the theory of public entrepreneurship is based on creativity and innovation, as well as the synergy of the actors (Alvarez & Barney, 2014; Bruton et al., 2013; Carraher et al., 2003).

Conclusion

The reconstruction of a model of poverty reduction strategies based on participation or empowerment of the poor begins with the deconstruction of the strategy that has been carried out through the activities of assistance, facilitation and promotion of the program. The reconstruction of the strategy model for implementing the empowerment program carried out through training activities, consultations and technical assistance to the community was collaborated and coordinated through the application of the principles of public entrepreneurship. The aim is for the community empowerment program facilitator to evaluate the results and their impact on the interests of the public and stakeholders. The best practice from the reconstruction of the poverty alleviation strategy model is the actualization of the synergistic approach "5C", namely communication, coordination, collaboration, cooperation, consciousness to build independence (proactive, creative, productive, innovative) society in working and trying to apply the principles of public entrepreneurship sustainably. Therefore, it is recommended to the stakeholders of poverty alleviation programs so that in addition to being able to actualize the synergistic 5C approach, it is also expected to be able to apply the principles of public entrepreneurship and the principle of social entrepreneurship so that "the citizens' community" can be achieved. In short, the application of the principle of public entrepreneurship turned out to be the right alternative to increase the demand for socio-cultural life of the economy and the welfare of the poor.

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