Smouldering Natural Disinfectant

The outbreak of pandemic Covid-19 all over Indonesia has disturbed the political, social, economic, religious and financial structures of the whole country.  

Even the government provide basic needs, farmers in the villages have big problem because they can't sell their products.  They have no money for others purpose of their live. 

In the city, significant numbers of the productive-age workforce unemployed, and must going back to their villages. 

Chemical-based disinfectant growth rapidly. People used it at home and every place they go. The government sprays public facilities with a chemical bleaching agent that is harmful for humans and nature. 

This solution is trying to tackle these problem.  We learn from the past, where our ancestors who use many ingredients as a disinfectant. With simple technology, we produce smouldering natural disinfectant by using farmers commodities, create job in the village and negative environmental impact caused by disinfecting activities can be minimised. 

We want to solve three main problem :

1. How to ensure farmers still productive and can sell thier products.  

2. Create job to the productive-age workforce unemployed caused of Covid-19 pandemic

3.  Replace chemical-based disinfectant with naturally-sourced organic-certified ingredients that produced a pleasant smell disinfectant without negative impact for the helth and nature.

We are prototyping one industry in Java now, with productivity 12 tonnes Smouldering Natural Disinfectant (SND) everyday.  We have 45 workers directly work in factory, we buy 7 tonnes lemongrass, 4 tonnes Indonesian Bay-leaf, 1 tonne Frankincense, 2 tonnes of Agarwood, all the raw material come from 2,400 farmers families across Java.  Our product now use by people, and we are in the process to lobby our government to gradualy replace the chemical-based disinfectant with this product.  If we can do that, we can make sure farmers can get more benefit and we will create more jobs while save our nature. 

Our solution is come from the past.  In Indonesia, culture ceremony mostly use frankincense as a tools.  They believe the smell of frankincense and lemongrass and many ingredients can help them to focus, rilex and also believe can reduce the development of the bacteria, viruses, insect and mosquitoes.  Efraim lev and Zohar Amar, author of Practical Materia Medica Of The Medieval Eastern Mediterranean According to the Cairo Genizah, wrote Yeminite Jews and Egypt used frankincense resin as a disinfectant after childbirth.  

What we do is simple, organised farmers (we did already since 2006), and process their non timber forest product can process become a smouldering disinfectant with very simple technology ‘retort kiln zero oxygen carbonisation'.  Based on that we create 'inclusive business model' where the farmers in not only stakeholders but also a shareholders in our company.

Our target population is : 

1.  Farmers who produce non timber forest product, herbs and ingredients, we will secure their product as a main raw material for SND.  We already adopt the sustainable management and fair price for the commodities.  With only one factory with 12 tonnes productivity we can give direct impact to 2,400 families across Java. Mostly of this farmers already engage with us for long time ago, we are develop cooperatives together and set up the sustainable forest management with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certificate.  Before Covid-19, wood is the main commodities, but during the covid, non timber forest product also the big part to produce Smouldering Disinfectant. 

2.  Unemployed people, mostly with young people who loose their job cause of Covid-19 pandemic.  One factory can create 45 jobs directly in the factory. 

3.  Children and people who use our product.  They will get better product without chemical.

This is a small and new business, who founded since Covid-19 pandemic.  Idea came along with our effort to help farmers still productive and how to tackle unemployment issues cause of Covid in the villages.  When the business is running, we saw big potential ahead. More farmers get benefit and more people return to work.  Now, we still looking for capital, network and technology to grow.  

Now we have smouldering natural disinfectant with lemongrass flavours, next we will produce SND with coffee flavours, and others resources in the village.  

When most disinfectant is chemical-based and made in large scale, we create community-based, natural and sustainable disinfectant. We also create inclusive business where people not only stakeholder but also a shareholders. 

For processing our raw material and produce our product we only use simple technology called ‘retort kiln zero oxygen carbonisation', we thinking to implement more complicated technology for databases and marketing but not yet implement. 

Our technology is going well.  Mostly of our product is accepted in the market.  This technology also widely used especially to the briket industry.

Covid 19, open our eyes, how fragile our economic system.  When the system are collapsed, farmers and workers hit most hardest. When industry closed, farmers can't sell their product.  Workers loose their job. This is typical economic system what we create now. 

We are trying a different ways of business.  We want to centralised the industry with the same standard. In this industry farmers is not only stakeholders but also shareholders together with private sectors and social entrepreneurs.  Industry will process raw material from farmers and sell as a natural and sustainable products to the market.

As a start we produce smouldering natural disinfectant.  By doing this we produces harmless disinfectant, but also make sure farmers still productive while young people found their job again. 

This year 2,400 farmers, 45 workers, more that million user of our products.

Next year more that 25,000 farmers, 150 workers, millions user of our products

Next 5 years more than 300,000 famers, more than 1,000 workers and millions of user of our products

Next year : Smouldering Natural Disinfectant will be the most familiar disinfectant in Indonesia, we have 3 factory on 3 different cities.

Next 5 years : We will not only have factory for smouldering Natural disinfectant but also have factory for briquette and continue to support renewable energy from wood and non timber forest products. 

We have limited understanding about technology and investment. We need fancy technology for databases and marketing.  We have planning all our paper based databases can switch to digital and everybody can trace our product from the farmers. In investment we think about how to build more factory in more place.

We need more collaboration with others to tackle our problem.  

We are the part of Ashoka, Schwab Foundation and Skoll Foundation.  They give us an award based on our achievements to transform the illegal loggers become a sustainable farmers, from zero to hero of our forest.  The illegal loggers (mostly of them a farmers), well organised.  They have a cooperative and do the sustainable management. Now we have 9 cooperatives all across Indonesia.  For effectiveness of our operation we create one company who still doing marketing together, did a group certification and looking for financing. This company owners are private sectors, cooperatives of farmers and social entrepreneurs. 

We have 45 full time staff.

We come from different background and expertise.  Telapak expertise in social investment, building people organisation with good governance, set up commons dreams, set up  risk conflict resolution and sharing benefit mechanism.  Our friends have an expertise on technology and long experience on ‘retort kiln zero oxygen carbonisationn'.  Our private sector partners is fluent on marketing and others partners doing the legal aspects including copy rights manners. 

Not yet

Our business model consist of 2 important things : 

1.  Sustainable its means all we do must be sustainable with international standard.  Example : we do forest management we use FSC Certificate.  

2.  Community-based, its means our business is organising and accelerate small scale farmers. Together we build the organisation (mostly is cooperative) and allow this cooperatives become a shareholder on processing industry we create together with the private sectors. 

Yes we are community based but our standard is international standard. And all product will be traceable.

Our operation is come from business activities. We only need grant is we thinking to accelerate our model.

It's MIT! We believe we will get more opportinity to grow if we involve in this challenge. 

No More explanation 

MIT Faculty members and Solve Members.