The Gempera and ICS Research Team Visited Bilebante Green Tourism Village as part of a Collaborative Effort to Develop a Stunting Management Model in NTB Province

Researchers from Gempera and the University of Mataram’s Islamic Culture and Society (ICS) research center, led by Dr. Saipul Hamdi, visited Bilebante Village in Central Lombok Regency. This visit was made as a first stage in the research process on collaborative action in building a model for dealing with stunting in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

NTB is one of Indonesia’s provinces with a high rate of stunting. Stunting prevalence in NTB reached 32.7% in 2022. This circumstance pushes various parties to manage stunting cases through various programs, one of which is the Generasi Berkarya KB village program, which has been implemented in Bilebante village.

The KB Village Program has succeeded in encouraging the Bilebante Village community to participate actively in the KB Village program, which is influenced by the strong commitment of policymakers at all levels (District, Sub-district and Village). It also influenced by the intensity of public opinion about the KKBPK Program and its integration with cross-sectors; optimization of facilitation and support from partners or stakeholders; and the enthusiasm and dedication of program manager. As a result, the stunting rate in Bilebante Village decreased considerably.

In her remarks, Nita Anggraini, a family planning activist and the wife of Bilebante Village Chief who has served three terms, stressed that significant efforts and cooperation from many stakeholders are required to overcome the stunting problem.

“There are 11 stunting cases in Bilebante Village out of 349 babies under the age of five being treated by village health workers, and one of them is not from Bilebante Village.” This means that Bilebante Village is below the national stunting rate limit of 14%,” said Bilebante Village Head, Nita Anggraini, during the ICS researchers’ visit to the Bilebante Green Tourism Village Secretariat in Central Lombok on Tuesday (07/25/2023).

Based to the numbers disclosed by the Bilebante Village Head, the village’s stunting rate is just around 3.15%, much below the NTB stunting rate and the maximum limit of the national stunting rate that has been imposed.

Dr. Saipul Hamdi, the director of Gempera and ICS, praised Bilebante Village’s accomplishments. “This should be acknowledged. As therefore, the research that we will do will include determining how to deal with stunting in Bilebante Village as a prototype village for other communities in NTB and Indonesia,” stated Dr. Saipul Hamdi.

Furthermore, the Gempera and ICS research team collaborated with the Mataram University KKN student team stationed in Bilebante Village during this research process. This collaboration was carried out to facilitate synergy in the research’s data collection process, particularly for quantitative data that involves surveys. This is also important to the KKN group program and the village program. Through this activity, it is intended that methods of dealing with stunting can be devised and implemented in order to overcome the problem of stunting, particularly in NTB and Indonesia in general.