Resilience through agroforestry in Kalimantan

Dear friends,

Thanks so much for your continued support of our project! Over the past few months, we’ve been working closely with women community leaders who have been trained to spread awareness about climate change in their communities. The goal is to share knowledge about agroforestry and its benefits, covering topics like:

• What is climate change?
• How does it happen globally and locally?
• How does it affect us on a global and local scale?
• What can we do in our daily lives to address it?
• How does agroforestry help reduce the impact of climate change?
• What are the advantages of agroforestry compared to traditional farming?
• What are the unique conditions (soil, climate) in Bukit Batu?

We’ve been running workshops in both schools and villages, reaching nearly 200 participants so far. One highlight was an Earth Day school event, which included a fun poster-making competition with prizes.

From our post-workshop evaluations, we found that while 86% of participants had heard of "climate change" before, they didn’t know what it meant. After the workshop, 92% recognized that climate change is already happening, 95% understood its impact, 99% grasped its causes, and 96% learned ways to help reduce its effects.

Whenever we introduce a new concept, like agroforestry, it’s really important that the community understands the reasoning behind it. That way, they can form their own opinions and decide if they want to participate.

We’re thrilled with the progress so far and are hopeful that many smallholder farmers in Bukit Batu will be excited to try agroforestry as a more sustainable way to use their land.

Dear friends,

In Bukit Batu, Central Kalimantan, monoculture farming is prevalent among vegetable farmers due to long-standing habits, but this practice imposes a severe toll on the environment by making the land more susceptible to pests and diseases, which in turn leads to excessive use of chemical pesticides. These chemicals reduce the soil’s natural fertility, increase production costs, and adversely affect the quality of produce. In response, YUM initiated an Agroforestry project in 2018 to promote sustainable land use. This project, set on 1.5 hectares of sandy acidic soil, transformed the area into a lush, green landscape with increased biodiversity, enhancing soil fertility and creating a balanced ecosystem. The agroforestry model has since proved effective and replicable by smallholder farmers, producing various crops such as oranges, papaya, and pineapple alongside native plant species, thereby raising awareness about sustainable farming practices and improving food security while adapting to climate change.

We are thrilled to announce that 10 smallholder farmers have started on their journey toward sustainable agriculture and increased livelihoods. Our team in Kalimantan is diligently at work in providing support in enabling the farmers to learn everything they need to know about sustainable agriculture and agroforestry so that they can implement the agroforestry method on their own land.

Nonetheless, having 10 smallholder farmers implement the agroforestry model is just the beginning. With over 300 active farmers across 7 villages in the area, it is no small task to reach out to every single one of them and help them become aware of the importance of sustainable farming methods. From awareness campaign activities such as surveys, workshops, seminars, to creation of best practices videos for smallholder farmers in the area, we hope that smallholder farmers in the area can increase their livelihood while contributing to the sustainability of our planet through agroforestry.

Thank you for your continuous support to help smallholder farmers in Central Kalimantan begin their transformative journey toward sustainable agriculture! If you are able, we would appreciate it if you could set up a monthly donation through GlobalGiving as this provides us with a sustainable source of funds.