Caritas Czech Republic contributes to the development of sustainable livelihood in Aceh

Caritas Czech Republic sums up 4 years of engagement with several communities in the Indonesian region of Aceh to help them achieving a sustainable livelihood production, after being suffering a 30-year-long armed conflict and a devastating Tsunami in 2004.

In a series of articles written by Mr. Bintang Samiaji, a free-lance journalist, Caritas Czech Republic narrates the everyday struggle of a population that strives to reach a better future in harmony with its environment, but avoiding to be much too dependent on external factors as weather conditions.

Fishing sustainably for a better future - Gusniwan had never thought of having a more sustainable livelihood that was less dependent on weather. The fisherman, who lives in Babah Ngom village, Aceh Jaya, was accustomed to fishing in both river and sea, but the yields were not meeting his usual expectations; perhaps due to unique weather or luck. The deadly tsunami disaster on December, 2004 did not only devastate hundreds of thousands of lives and houses across Aceh Jaya, but also had changed the natural landscape and ecosystem of the region. Vast areas of land and clusters of rice fields turned into large ponds and swamp areas changed into small lakes. The new territorial waters could be advantageous however, holding economic potential for the villagers in aquatic livelihoods in the aftermath of the tsunami. For Gusniwan, his conditions changed after Caritas Czech Republic gave him and tens of other local fishermen a keramba, a fish cage each on December 2007. Further, to enhance the livelihood initiative, the organization also distributed to each beneficiary 1,000 Nila, or fish fingerling, a freshwater fish often raised for food.

Panga hatchery and fish food factory established by Caritas Czech Republic and the fishermen cooperative KNJA. Photo: Caritas Czech Republic Mission

“During the first harvest season, I got 400 kilos and I earned 4.2 million rupiahs ($420),” Gusniwan said, happily. Raising fish in a cage has become an alternative livelihood method and it is also more profitable for Gusniwan and other fishermen on the Aceh Jaya coast.

Another fisherman who received the fish cage and fingerlings from Caritas, named Bustami, has his keramba at Tui Karueng village. He has been working his harvest but has not had as high of yields as Gusniwan, with only 100 kilograms from the first harvest.

Raising caged fish requires new skills and learning the sophicated methods that differ from the knowledge of traditional fishing. Another aspect of raising caged fish is the importance of good fingerling stocks at the beginning of the process. So far, the fingerlings have been supplied from Banda Aceh or other regions in Aceh which is time consuming and often some of the fingerlings do not survive the long distance transport. The fingerling’s fed is also sourced from outside Aceh Jaya, proving a number of trials for this potentially more sustainable livelihood and difficulties for the fishermen.

“That is why we agreed to establish and develop a cooperative for fishermen,” says Tengku Amiruddin , from Teunom sub district and the Chairman of KNJA. The cooperative of fishermen, established on July 2008, is called Koperasi Nelayan Jaring Apung (KNJA) and comprises fishermen who already have keramba in various villages in the Aceh Jaya district. Here, the fishermen could employ, organize and manage their livelihoods autonomously; an impacting community enterprise. The cooperative model provides many benefits for its members including having withstood economic crises during that of Indonesia in 1997. Caritas Czech Republic has given support through capacity building and financial aid in order to develop healthy enterprise management for KNJA.

“We had arranged several trainings and capacity building programs for the executive boards and management staff. It is necessary because the cooperative is a new kind of enterprise for them,” remarks Said Ridha, a Caritas field officer for the aquaculture livelihood program who assists the fishermen.

The cooperative is thriving, with 100 registered members from various sub districts in Aceh Jaya from Teunom to Lhok Krut. KNJA staff focuses on assisting the fishermen’s keramba rehabilitation and arranging fish-feed producing workshops for the members. In the next few months, Caritas will provide a hatchery for the cooperative to produce fingerlings in Aceh Jaya for the cooperative members

The success is seen in the numbers. “We just sold about four tons of the fishermen’s fishes to Meulaboh (Aceh Barat district) at competitive rates,” said Amuddin, KNJA marketing staff. The cooperative hopes to collaborate with the government to promote the freshwater fish they are raising and create more demand for their product. “We’re optimistic because it is profitable for the fishermen.”  

Harvesting hope through the Farming Field School - Nursiah (42) was eager to plant cocoa seeds on her new farmland. The mother of two sons, Nursiah has cleared the half a hectare of farmland in Arun Patah village (Panga sub-district, Aceh Jaya) by hand. “I’ve been waiting for the seeds. Staff of Caritas Czech Republic said they will give them to us when the field school program ended,” Nursiah said, happily. She has also been accused of being an Inong Balee, a member of the GAM military wing for women. Inong Balee means widow. When the tsunami swallowed the western coast of Aceh in 2004 and destroyed thousands of houses, Nursiah’s house in Arun Patah village was swept away. She was in Medan when the deadly natural disaster struck. Her sons, Dedi Syahputra and Imam Syahputra, were studying in a pesantren (religious boarding school) in Bireuen district. The international humanitarian response and the influx of aid have lightened her family’s burden. However, as a single parent she has to work hard to cover the cost of education for her sons’. Nursiah worked as a laborer on rubber plantations, tapping the sap out of rubber trees. She could earn around IDR 20 to 25 thousands (around US$ 2.5) per day, but her wage depended on the amount of rubber sap that she could tap.

The Farmer Field School represents an excellent way for farmers to learn best practices to produce vital crops through sustainable farming. Photo: Caritas Czech Republic Mission

When she received aid from government, distributed to the tsunami victims she used it to buy 2.5 hectares of land on the foothills near her village. Nursiah turned 1.5 hectares of her land into rubber plantation. She worked together with her mother to cultivate rubber seedlings. However, the rest of her land remained covered in bush and scrub. She started investigating ways she could cultivate the land in her village. 

“I heard in the beginning, there would be a distribution of cocoa seeds. Then I went to the head of the village to confirm and ask for his permission to join the cocoa farmers group to get the cocoa seeds”.

Caritas Czech Republic runs Farmer Field School program in my vilage. However, beneficiaries in the community needed to fulfill various requirements. Firstly, beneficiaries had to own the land that was to be cultivated. They also needed to find 10 more new members so they could develop a new group and attend Farmer Field School program for 5 months

It was not easy to find other neighbors willing to join the group, but Nursiah managed it. Two women and seven men joined her group. The group elected her to become the manager of the group. They then attended several sessions of training supported by Caritas. 

In early 2008, Caritas Czech Republic and Archipelago Alternative Agriculture Foundation (PANSU), a North Sumatra-based NGO, came together to assist local farmers in tsunami-affected area like Aceh Jaya, and improve sustainable farming. The majority of the population in these areas had lost their houses, farmland, and livelihoods.

PANSU is an organization of farmers who have focused on promoting organic farming since the 1990s. In response to the 1970s “Green Revolution,” which introduced high yielding seeds dependent on expensive chemical fertilizer that poisoned the soil and water sources, affected land productivity and harmed farmers' health, PANSU’s field programmes promote organic farming and oppose the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

PANSU’s staff introduce organic farming methods and assist farmers across districts in North Sumatra province. Immediately after the 2004 tsunami devastated farmland in Simeulue and Nias islands, PANSU initiated assistance programmes to local farmers, particularly in cocoa and rubber crops. The aims were to re-develop sustainable farming and to re-build livelihoods for local farmers.

In the wake of the tsunami, international organizations and aid flooded to Aceh. While the assistance provided much needed support, it has also changed the mentality of many beneficiaries. Instead of generating initiatives, beneficiaries become dependent on aid. However, sooner or later, international aid organizations will have to leave.    

“Villagers here (in Aceh Jaya) have become dependent. Everything needs to be prepared and helped. Our plan is to reduce villager’s dependence. Thus, seeds will be given to those who really need them and enthusiastic about farming,” Sapta explained.

Sapta explains that seeds are distributed only after the beneficiaries have had sufficient training on how to cultivate and nurse them, including how to promote their product and improve yields. If not, thousand of seeds will be worthless.

“The objective of field training is that when the farmers have sufficient knowledge about sustainable farming, they will be able to develop and manage the farmland by themselves,” Sapta added.

PANSU has been running the assistance and training program for almost six months. The PANSU team includes eleven trainers, all successful farmers, who carry out the training and assistance program to the farmer clusters across five sub districts in Aceh Jaya.  

Nursiah and her colleagues in the group are part of the PANSU training program. She never missed the sessions held on farmland in Alue Piet village, Panga sub district. The program maintained a fixed schedule, every Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. She learned techniques to cultivate cocoa crops, such as grafting methods. Nursiah was also trained to produce compost and a natural concoction to stimulate the growth of fruits. The training also taught them how to handle the cocoa pod borer – enemy of the cocoa farmer – using natural ingredients.

“We also learn by practicing in the field,” said Nursiah, “I brought a note book to every training session so I could refer to my notes later on.”

Cocoa is a global food market commodity. According to the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), there has been a hike in cocoa prices on the international market. In 2007, prices reached US$ 2,000 per ton. In June 2008, prices rose more than 50%, to US$ 3,000 per ton. The main cocoa consumers are Netherlands, USA, Ivory Coast and European countries.

In Indonesia, cocoa is the third biggest export commodity, after rubber and palm oil. Indonesia is one of the top three cocoa producers in the world. The national rate is currently IDR 12,000 (US$ 1.2) per kilogram.

“As long as the yields are export quality and organic, prices tend to increase. We need to maintain the production sector,” Sapta said.

PANSU has also established a cocoa desiccation factory and developed a marketing network with consumers in the cocoa yields from farmers in the cooperatives. Nursiah and her fellow farmers were encouraged by this and were enthusiastic about cultivating and nursing the cocoa seed in her land, and creating links to market their product.

“If I already have the seeds, I will nurse them well. I will use profits from the yields to pay for my sons’ education so they will be able to find jobs,” was Nursiah wish.

Sowing the seeds of a brighter future - The night of August 23, 2008, Hasannuddin and his wife, Marlina, were sleepless. Around 10 o’clock that evening, a male elephant had entered their cocoa and banana farmland behind their house. The giant animal broke down the barbwire-fence around the farmland and devoured some banana stalks, which is one of its favorite foods. Hasanuddin went to his neighbors seeking help to chase the wild elephant away from his home. “Go away, please… Go away…,” Hasanuddin and his fellow villagers implored. They knew that the wild giant has sensitive behavior so they did not use any harmful techniques to chase it away in fear of a backlash from the elephant. “Please, don’t harm our farm …” begged Hasanuddin while waving his hands to scare the elephant away, but it kept devouring the trees. With help, Hasanuddin assembled wood for a bonfire which deterred the elephant however it returned to continue eating. Only at around 2:00 am, after completely finishing the banana stalks, did the elephant leave the farm. Hasanuddin and Marlina decided to watch over the farm, along with some of the neighbors who gathered for the night around the bonfire.   “We rely on the cocoa crops to finance our children’s education,” Hasanuddin told me. He is a head of Cot Punti village at Sampoinet, Aceh Jaya district and to make ends meet he works his two hectares of farmland. A few months ago he planted hundreds of cocoa seeds for about half a hectare and banana crops among the cocoa trees. Both the cocoa and banana seeds were distributed by Caritas Czech Republic through a livelihood program focused on the conflict-affected village. Hasanuddin has estimated that after three years the cocoa seeds would yield and the cocoa will be more profitable than bananas. The farm crops are an important investment after a long period of turbulence that has left his family in poverty. “After the conflict, we start from zero,” Marlina added.

Community and permaculture training centre in Rentang, which provides locally grown good quality seedlings, intensive trainings for the communities in organic farming, permaculture designs, use of bio gas, etc. Photo: Caritas Czech Republic Mission

Sampoinet, a sub-district in Aceh Jaya, consists of tens of villages which, since the 1990s, have depended on the fertile soils of the area’s farmland. Javanese farmers brought and cultivated orange seeds and Hasanuddin followed their lead on his farmland as the oranges were very profitable. The years of ensuing conflict that plagued the area triggered social division and forced the local residents into poverty while exiling their Javanese neighbors. “My neighbor entrusted his certificate of land to me. I’ve been keeping it in my wardrobe until today,” Hasanuddin said. Thousands of villagers lost of their jobs and livelihoods during the difficult time of conflict in the region. Hasanuddin and other villagers in Sampoinet were pushed and hemmed in the conflict; they had to survive as if living in between two giant elephants fighting.

The wind of peace blows in Aceh and gradually conditions are returning to normal. However, people in rural Aceh and conflict affected areas remain living in deprivation due to a lack of economic access. Starting their farms up from rubble is difficult, requiring passion and dedicated effort. “It takes a lot of money. How can we buy the seeds? We don’t have any money,” said Awaluddin, who lives in a neighboring village in Sampoinet.

In early 2008, Caritas began assisting in the villages of Sampoinet district. The staff held meetings with local actors and carried out surveys and need assessments among the villagers to provide aid appropriately. Soon agriculture and agro-forestry livelihood programs were started for the district and thousands of the seeds were distributed to more than 1,110 households, across 21 villages in the district. The Caritas staff also provided barbwire to fence in the crops and helped them to clear and prepare their land. “If somebody asks me to choose money or seeds, I would prefer to the last one. Money will run out in few days because there’s always passion to buy anything,” says Musdar of Ie Jeureunge village. Hasanuddin and Musdar were among the beneficiaries, each having received more than 300 cocoa seeds towards their dream of sustainable livelihood.

In order to protect their lands while making a profitable living, the villages of Aceh Jaya and Caritas see organic farming as the way forward. Caritas invited and worked together with IDEP Foundation to hold trainings in capacity building in organic farming techniques. IDEP is a national NGO that focuses on educationing about sustainable development through permaculture methods. The training was held in a learning center and nursery of Caritas at Reuntang village, and aimed to give farmers specific knowledge and skills to raise their cocoa crops organically.

With the assistance of Caritas Czech Republic the villages of Sampoinet are regaining their livelihood and stability through their farms. The many workshops and assistance have proven successful to the development of a healthy agricultural initiative for the residents of Aceh Jaya. However, the threats of the elephants now infringe upon that potential for growth and a better future. “Nowadays, the greatest enemy to our farmland are the elephants,” Hasanuddin said. The elephant who damaged the farmer’s land has become a daily conversation among villagers and this issue too will spur community solutions and efforts to generate livelihoods in sync with the environment.

For further information, please contact:
Martin Vane
Head of Mission
Caritas Czech Republic
E-mail: martin.vane@caritas.cz