This project trained 600 farm families living in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, and Lampung provinces in composting livestock and other local on-farm wastes and residues. This will reduce the amount of purchased manufactured fertilizers and simultaneously conserve environmental quality by reducing the amount of rice straw burning that they normally do.

This project will:

• Train 600 farm families (from about 3-5 farmer groups for each of 10 local NGO partners) in composting using manure and other farm by-products

• Set up a compost demonstration plot in each training site

• Develop a compost training module, which can be used in other trainings

• Train 8 NGO staff in using participatory training methodology.

• Complete an evaluation report on the training and its short-term impact

Heifer Indonesia is the project holder.

The economic crisis that rocked SE Asia in 1997-98 had an extremely detrimental effect on the poor of Indonesia. The price of agricultural inputs, especially fertilizer, skyrocketed, putting them out of reach of the typical farm family. During the time of relative levels of prosperity, many small-scale farmers relied upon manufactured, inorganic fertilizer for their land. Now, these and many other families are turning back to natural fertilizer, not only because of the inaccessibility but also because of the environmental benefits of natural fertilizer. Most farmers prefer to burn their rice straw, contributing to increased air pollution and carbon loss. Rice straw and livestock manure both make an excellent composting combination, which can contribute to environmental improvement by reducing rice straw burning.

Because much of the traditional knowledge regarding the on-farm production and use of organic fertilizers has been lost over the years, farmers have approached Heifer International - Indonesia requesting help in reestablishing composting practices.

Trainees will be asked to share their knowledge with other villagers who could not attend the training. Composting demonstration plots, which will be set up in each training site and monitored by farmers and local NGO field staff, will provide an opportunity for the trainees and their friends to see the results of the techniques. By more effectively utilizing wastes, which might otherwise be burned or otherwise improperly disposed of, environmental pollution could be reduced; to the benefit of all people living in the immediate area.

This project is fully supported by the Week of Compassion.