Lecturers from the State Polytechnic of Babel Attend the Moringa Bazaar, Encouraging Downstream Processing of Moringa Leaves at YPK Air Kenanga High School.
Deputy Director III of Polman Negeri Babel, Eko Sulistyo, M.T., gave a speech at the YPK Air Kenanga High School Moringa Bazaar activity, encouraging the downstreaming of Moringa leaves into products with economic, educational and health value.
The enthusiasm for utilizing moringa leaves as an economically valuable food product inspired the Moringa Bazaar held by YPK Air Kenanga High School, which received support from various parties, including representatives of lecturers and leaders from the Bangka Belitung State Manufacturing Polytechnic. This event, held on Saturday (June 13, 2026), demonstrated a synergy between education, health, and community empowerment with the leading vocational school in Bangka Belitung.
The event was part of an existing collaboration between Polman Babel and YPK Air Kenanga High School to promote the wider use of moringa plants.
The event was attended by Eko Sulistyo, Deputy Director III of Polman Babel; Somawardi, M.T., Head of the Polman Babel Community Health Center; the Head of the Kenanga Community Health Center; teachers, parents, and the surrounding community.
The bazaar featured various exciting activities, including a moringa leaf-based cooking competition, a moringa food and beverage bazaar, and the distribution of moringa seedlings.
In his remarks, Deputy Director III of Polman Babel Eko Sulistyo conveyed that the moringa plant has great potential to be developed into a superior product with high sales value. It is a plant that is easy to cultivate and can grow in various land conditions so that it can become a downstream program to become various food products that have economic value because this is an opportunity for schools, communities, and even students to develop creativity and entrepreneurship based on local potential," he explained.
He explained that Polman Babel is ready to support the development of processed moringa products through appropriate technology, from production equipment and processing to marketing. Products such as moringa chips, moringa noodles, and various herbal drinks are considered to have significant potential for wider marketing.
"Furthermore, student involvement in moringa product development can also serve as a learning tool for entrepreneurship. Students can learn about the production process, packaging, marketing, and technology development that can improve product quality," he said.
Furthermore, Eko encouraged YPK Air Kenanga High School to continue innovating in leveraging the potential of moringa leaves and expressed his hope that in the future, broader collaborations with various parties, including the Department of Industry and Trade and cooperatives, could be established to increase production and marketing capacity for processed moringa products," Eko Sulistyo concluded.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the YPK Air Kenanga High School Foundation, Dr. Fransiska Lanni, M.Si., explained that the moringa program is a collaboration between three different institutions: a university, a high school, and the health sector, all with the common goal of promoting the benefits of moringa and encouraging its cultivation in the community.
Furthermore, she expressed her desire to increase public awareness of the health benefits of moringa, especially for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Moringa has not been optimally cultivated in Bangka, despite its significant benefits.
"Therefore, it's no surprise that Air Kenanga High School has provided 2,000 moringa plants, and 66 parents have been involved in the program, cultivating moringa plants in their respective homes," she said.
At the same event, Yuke Mareta Ariesta Sandra, M.Si., a lecturer at Polman Babel, who was a judge in the cooking competition, expressed her impression of the participants' creativity. The many diverse moringa-based foods and drinks they presented were deemed delicious.
Yuke explained that all participants displayed extraordinary results and that they had to be professional and objective in determining the best winner, as each group had put in maximum effort in preparing their product," he concluded.
