Community Empowerment Construction towards Independent Rural Areas

This research attempted to identify the causes of rural areas dependency on government and formulate the construction of community empowerment towards independent rural areas. The research was conducted in Garut District because this district has the lowest life expectancy rate and the highest amount of underdeveloped rural areas in West Java. The research was using the constructivism research method through an in-depth interview with informants, focus group discussion and an observation as well in research site. The informants of this research were: Head of Community Empowerment Agency (BPMD) Garut District and staffs also sub-district heads and village heads in several under-developed rural areas. The analysis was conducted by adopting Saemaul Undong community empowerment model in South Korea. The reason of rural areas dependency on government in terms of rural development are; the community empowerment program is still partial; rural development indicators are changing; the large number of rural government superiors; fund policies reduce community initiatives and roles in rural development. The construction of rural community empowerment towards independent rural areas in Garut regency is carried out by the establishment of community economic institution in the form of BUMDes (village-owned enterprise).