Strengthening the Governance of Village-Owned Enterprises as a Strategy for Village Community Empowerment at the South Sumatra Provincial Community and Village Empowerment Agency

Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) are strategic instruments in increasing village economic independence through optimizing local potential and empowering the community. However, the implementation of BUMDes policies in various regions still faces various challenges related to institutional governance, coordination between stakeholders, human resource capacity, and the effectiveness of coaching carried out by local governments. This study aims to analyze the strengthening of the governance of Village-Owned Enterprises as a strategy for empowering village communities at the South Sumatra Provincial Community and Village Empowerment Office. The research uses a descriptive qualitative approach with data collection through in-depth interviews, observations, and documentation studies. Data analysis was carried out using the interactive model Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña which included data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawn. The analysis focused on the four dimensions of George C. Edwards III's policy implementation theory, namely communication, resources, disposition, and bureaucratic structure. The results of the study show that the strengthening of BUMDes governance has been supported by the commitment of local governments through policy coaching, mentoring, and facilitation. However, the effectiveness of governance still faces obstacles in the form of uneven capacity of BUMDes managers, limited resources, suboptimal coordination between levels of government, and differences in the characteristics of village potential. This study concludes that strengthening the governance of BUMDes requires sustainable synergy between the provincial government, district/city government, village government, and BUMDes managers through institutional capacity building, strengthening the coaching system, and developing local potential-based innovations so that the empowerment of village communities can take place in a sustainable manner.