Community Livelihood Empowerment through Agro-ecology for Holistic Development (Co-LEAD) in West Sumatra

22-0806-10

Project Profile

This three years project will improve livelihood of poor farmers in West Sumatra of Indonesia that lead to sustainable holistic development. Improvement of livelihood will be implemented through diversified income generation and agro-ecology practice in Solok and Pesisir Selatan. The project will support 525 farmers’ families who are vulnerable and trapped in economic deprivation. They will be trained and their access and control to livelihood resources will be strengthened to achieve self-reliance and to meet their food and other basic needs.

There will be 175 original project participants and 350 pass on participants. For 175 original farmers will be supported with 700 goats, total of 87,500 fingerlings and 525  kg horticulture seeds and herbal plant. They will also participate in empowerment trainings both technical and non-technical. Technical trainings will include livestock management; aquaculture; water monitoring; and agro-ecology practices such as composting and use of non pesticide farming. While non-technical trainings will include marketing and entrepreneurship as well as group development, gender equity, and social analysis.

Heifer International Indonesia will collaborate with 2 local NGO partners in the province of West Sumatra province to implement this project.

Background and History of Project Holder/Partner

Heifer International Indonesia has worked in Indonesia since 1982 by providing support for various livestock based livelihood empowerment for rural poor. Heifer International Indonesia developed partnerships with local organizations, which provided social mobilization to communities The country office was established in 1997, with focused on ten provinces on Sumatra Island. The island has a population of 50 million in ten provinces. Heifer Indonesia was legally registered as a branch of an international NGO after signing the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture and Heifer International in December 2003

Heifer International Indonesia is committed to values based planning and development. It uses a holistic development approach in its program. This means that the impact of support given to community such as livestock resources, horticulture and trainings will be holistic. This is supported by internalization of Heifer’s Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development.

Support provided to community includes livestock such as goats, cattle, water buffalo, bees, sheep, fish, chickens, ducks, quail, and pigs. In addition the program focuses on empowerment of small farmers and farmers groups through trainings and education.

All current projects are integrating gender concern since Heifer Indonesia has embarked its gender mainstreaming strategy.

Project Rationale – Local Conditions & Opportunities for Assistance

Local Conditions

The poverty remains persistence in the province of West Sumatra especially in the district of Solok Selatan and Pesisir Selatan. Though, West Sumatra Province is rich in natural resources such as mining, fisheries, and forest products. But farmers in the two districts are still living in poverty. In Solok Selatan and Pesisir Selatan districts the poverty rate account for 20 %. The official measurement of poverty in Indonesia based on basic needs approach based on consumption module, equal to Rp 180,000 (about 20 USD) per month. This of course will be rocketed if the measure uses the 2 USD per day.

In the province of West Sumatra, it is estimated that 25.23 % of youth aged from 15-24 years are unemployed. About 64 % of the population reside in rural areas are agricultural labour.

Another chain of poverty trap is low level of education and lacks of skills and knowledge, especially among poor families in rural areas. From all poor families in West Sumatra, 44% did not complete their elementary school and 41% of poor families only completed elementary and junior high school. In 2004, there were 14.8 % school aged of 16-18 years youth were forced to drop out of school. Obviously, this situation is worse in rural than in urban areas. Therefore in this poverty cycle, poor families in West Sumatra lack of skills and knowledge and more often they become excluded from public services. More than 40 % of populations do not have access to clean water and 27.6 % do not have access to health facilities.

In addition, malnutrition incidence still exists in West Sumatra especially among fewer than five years age children and elementary school aged. According to Human Development Index, undernourished children under five years reached 28 % in 2004.

Environment degradation is considered as a serious threat to the livelihoods of rural poor in West Sumatra. Indonesia is rich with forest resources. However since 1950-2004, more than 40 % (from 162 million hectares to 95 million hectares) of its forest have been cleared for various purposes. The government has acknowledged that the average annual deforestation rate in Indonesia reached 2.8 million hectares from 1998 to 2002. Similar conditions take place in West Sumatra where illegal logging ruined and destroyed forest resources. The forestry data shows that 25 % of the forest has been disappeared in this province. Deteriorated forest will in turn cause more vulnerability for rural poor. This deforestation then ultimately harms the livelihood sources of rural poor. Another environment issue is high use of chemical pesticides and fertilizer among farmers.

In addition the province in prone to disaster like all other areas in Indonesia. This province is prone to earthquake and tsunami threats, volcano eruption, landslides and floods. 

The recent situation of farmers in this province is characterized by subsistent farming which characterized by self consumption farming products, small scale farming, traditional farming technology, use of family labour and lack of post harvest processing. As a result they do not have adequate income sources and they cannot meet their basic needs such as lack of nutrition, limited access for children education, health care and

Opportunities for Assistance

Majority of farmers in the two districts are smallholder. Rural inhabitants in West Sumatra are used to grow cash crops, perennial and raise livestock such as goat and water buffalo. Therefore, they are used to mixed agriculture and livestock livelihood.

This project will empower disadvantaged farmers by providing resources for their livelihood which include distribution of Livestock, fish and seeds. They will also be trained on animal husbandry, aquaculture and fisheries, entrepreneurship and cornerstones. All project participants will be supported to have diversified of income sources.

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