Go-Crokies Deliver IPB University Students to Win Second Place at International Level

Papua has so far been identified by some people as underdeveloped, although its geographical size is almost three times larger than Java. One of the biggest problems faced by Papuans is malnutrition. This has a big influence on mothers who play a large role in supporting the growth, development and health status of children. Maternal health during pregnancy and breastfeeding will affect the quality of the health and nutrition of the baby.

This prompted three IPB University students to make cookies originating from sago. They are Budy Salaam Muhammad, Ditta Hakha Soleha and Darren Tanaka who are students of the Department of Food Science and Technology (ITP), Faculty of Agricultural Technology (Fateta). These cookies are named Go-Crokies because in addition to being made from sago, it is also combined with local plants such as torbangun and crickets.

“The addition of crickets is a way to provide adequate nutrition for nursing mothers in Papua. The addition of crickets is due to its ability to be easily cultivated and has a high protein content. At present, maternal nutrition in Papua is still very alarming. This can be seen from the prevalence of “low birth weight” which reached 27 percent. In addition, we also use torbangun because according to the literature study, these native Indonesian leaves have the ability to improve the quality and quantity of breast milk (ASI) compared to other popular supplements, “explained Budy.

Through this innovation, Budy and his team won second place in a prestigious event at the international level, namely the Developing Solution for Developing Countries (DSDC) held in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States last June. The competition was attended by 45 teams from 5 continents.

“Alhamdulillah, MasyaaAllah. A great pleasure for me and my friends for being able to represent IPB University and Indonesia in this world-level competition. We are very grateful and thankful for all the assistance from the ITP Department, the Directorate of Student Affairs at IPB University, Alumni Association and JNE for helping. This competition is very challenging and constructive for us. During the final presentation, we were asked to present our ideas in the first place in front of eight multidisciplinary and multinational judges. Thank God, we can pass it well, “he said. (AVR).