Abstract. Agricultural sector as a main contributor to GDP formation in West Sumatera is required to be able to diversify its business in order to achieve the highest economic and social development. One diversified agricultural business prospective to be developed is agro-tourism. The development of agro-tourism requires collaboration and synergy among academician, businessman, and government which known as triple helix actors. This study is designed with aim to (i) map the agro-tourism potential in West Sumatera; (ii) analyze the role of each actors which may allow them to take action in accelerating Agro-tourism development. This research uses observation, depth interview method, literature study, and focus group discussion. The result shows that agro-tourism in West Sumatra is prominent for its great natural and cultural value, but small in scale and lack of local facilities. It also requires relatively high level of investment for its capital return. Therefore, government support is an essential element in developing agro-tourism and the effort may also be better directed toward consolidating with intellectual and business.

Creative industry is a strategic sector of national development. Lack of capital is a major obstacle to its development. This study analyzes financial inclusion of micro small creative industries (MSCI) relating to access and loan use. Both logit and Tobit models were employed for 1,367 MSCI from micro small survey data 2014. This study proved that women entrepreneurs who are less educated, limited asset and located in rural area tend to have greater constraints in financial inclusion. This study recommend the importance of financial education for women entreprenuers in rural areas and expansion of internet uses and conduct digital finance. ======================== Industri kreatif merupakan sektor strategis pembangunan nasional. Keterbatasan akses keuangan menjadi kendala utama pengembangannya. Penelitian ini menganalisis inklusi keuangan terkait akses dan penggunaan kredit bank pada micro small creative industry (MSCI) di Sumatra Barat. Model logit dan Tobit digunakan untuk menganalisis 1.367 MSCI dari data survei industri mikro kecil 2014. Hasil penelitian membuktikan bahwa MSCI yang dikelola pengusaha wanita yang kurang berpendidikan, berskala kecil, aset terbatas dan berada di perdesaan cenderung memiliki informasi pembiayaan yang terbatas serta kendala besar dalam inklusi keuangan. Penelitian ini merekomendasikan pentingnya edukasi keuangan bagi pengusaha wanita di perdesaan serta perluasan pemanfaatan internet dan keuangan digital.

The research aimed to examine the potential of bio-charcoal briquettes as solid fuel using a SWOT analysis approach, by comparing them with non-briquette solid fuels. The SWOT method examines internal factors (IFAS) and external factors (EFAS). The research was conducted at a wood charcoal produces located at Dumai City, Riau. Data retrieval was carried out by means of observation and interview with the owner and workers. Including production data, marketing, problems faced during production, promotion and sale, product added value, product shortages and weaknesses, competitor data and opportunities in business development. The results of this research indicated that the advantages of briquette products was renewable, cheap, raw materials environmentally friendly, ease of packaging, cleanliness in the production process and efficiency in transportation. The disadvetages was less popular, requires a combustion furnace and fluctuating heat. The ooportunity was that the need for charcoal continues to increase, especially for restaurants and micro small industry. This research was recommend the importance of public policies related to the promotion and socialization of the use of bio-charcoal briquettes as a source of clean energy that is economical and environmentally friendly.  Keywords: bio-charcoal briquettes, renewable energy, SWOT analysis

<em>Farm financing is one of the factors facilitating the development of agriculture which allow farmers to expand the scale of farming and adopt new technologies. Unfortunately, a number of financial institutions often perceive farmers as "unbankable poor" that is costly to finance. KJKS BMT is one financial institution that is initiated by the government of West Sumatra's mission of poverty reduction in rural areas in particular to improve the access of small farmers to credit. So this study aims to identify and analyze the existence and accessibility of financing KJKS BMT in serving the financing of farming in West Sumatra. This study was conducted in a multi-stage random sampling, cities that randomly selected are Kota Padang and Bukittinggi, and then for each city, one KJKS BMT is also randomly selected. Primary data were collected by interviewing 60 respondent’s farmers. This research uses grounded research methods and data analysis in qualitative descriptive. Period of observation data for 2 years ie 2012-2014. Existence of KJKS BMT to finance farming measured by used five indicator namely a) The number of customers, b) The number of farmer customers, c) credit share for the agricultural, d) The number of farm financing and e) Development of BMT’s human resources. Furthermore accessibility is measured using six indicators, namely: (a) access to information, (b) access to loan procedure, (c) access to the maximum limit, (d) access to the time of disbursement, (e) access to loan repayment, and ( f) facilitation of access to financing. The results show that (1) although the existence of KJKS BMT start respected by rural communities, and even show a positive growth, but the credit share given by KJKS BMT to farm credit is still very small compared to another sectors (like trade and manufactures) which are less than 5%, Even though the level of customer growth of farmers during the past two years is reach 75%, higher than the growth of total customer (2) Accessibility of KJKS BMT to farm financing overall is good, although there are several factor that must be addressed like the availability of information, the number of loan, monitoring and loan supervision.</em>

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk: (1) mendeskripsikan karaktersitik industri kreatif di Sumatera Barat, dan (2) menganalis faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi serapan tenaga kerja wanita  dalam pengembangan industri kreatif di Sumatera Barat. Kemampuan  serapan tenaga kerja wanita (promoting gender balance) dihubungkan dengan karakteristik kewirausahaan, karakteristik usaha dan karakteristik wilayah. Penelitian ini menggunakan data survei industri mikro kecil (SIMK) 2014. Metode pengujian hipotesis dalam penelitian ini menggunakan analisis deskriptif dan analisis regresi linear berganda. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa karakteristik pengusaha (gender dan partnership), karakteristik usaha (asset dan sub sektor) serta karakteristik wilayah (GDP/capita) memiliki pengaruh dan signifikan secara statistik terhadap serapan tenaga kerja wanita pada industi kreatif di Sumatera Barat. Pemerintah sebaiknya melakukan upaya pemberdayaan tenaga kerja wanita melalui penguatan aspek usaha, kewirausahaan dan kewilayahan khususnya untuk mewujudkan pembangunan industri kreatif secara inklusif.