Socio-economic empowerment strategies for post-mining communities through village-owned enterprises and local agricultural commodities in Lahat, Indonesia

The transition of coal-mining areas toward the post-mining phase requires community empowerment strategies that reduce dependence on the extractive sector while rebuilding locally grounded livelihood assets and institutions. This study aimed to formulate priority strategies for a post-mining Community Empowerment Program based on Village-Owned Enterprises (Badan Usaha Milik Desa, BUMDes), local agricultural commodities, and reclaimed land in Lahat Regency, Indonesia. The field assessment was concentrated in May 2026 and organized as an intensive sequential case-study campaign combining strategic-factor questionnaires, directed interviews, field observation, document review, and cross-source validation. Twenty-five purposively selected key informants were treated as an expert-judgment panel rather than a statistical sample, with representation from village governments, BUMDes, community/farmer groups, mining companies, and local-government technical agencies. The empirical assessment identified village-specific commodity bases: coffee in Lubuk Betung, paddy in Prabumenang and Talang Sawah, and rubber in Gunung Agung and Senabing, with oil palm, livestock, and durian as complementary options. The IFAS and EFAS scores were 2.687 and 1.982, respectively, placing the case in the ST strategic position. QSPM prioritized the preparation of a post-mining PPM blueprint integrating local commodity value chains, BUMDes institutional strengthening, environmentally conditional use of reclaimed land, social-conflict mitigation, and livelihood-capital development. The findings indicate that a BUMDes-led blueprint can function as an institutional mechanism for connecting local assets with early mine-closure transition planning, provided that productive use of reclaimed land is preceded by biophysical suitability and safety assessment.