Abstract
Diabetes prevention at the community level requires both proper health knowledge and practical skills that simultaneously support healthier food choices and local empowerment. This community service program aimed to strengthen women’s knowledge of diabetes prevention and their capacity to produce Gynura procumbens based functional cookies. A participatory community empowerment approach was implemented including health education, demonstrations, hands-on production practice, mentoring, and introductory entrepreneurship and digital marketing activities involving PKK members and community participants in Sapanang Village, Jeneponto. Twelve participants completed the pre-test, while seven completed matched pre-test & post-test evaluations. Knowledge was assessed using a structured questionnaire, and production skills were evaluated through direct observation during practice. Among the seven participants with complete paired data, the mean knowledge score increased from 74.29 to 95.71 percent, representing a 21.42-percentage-point improvement. All seven participants achieved the good-knowledge category at post-test. All 12 participants successfully completed the supervised functional-cookie production practice. The program demonstrates that combining diabetes-prevention education with practical functional-food production can strengthen women’s health literacy and productive capacity, providing a feasible model for community-based health promotion using locally relevant herbal resources.