Overview

YUM’s community based projects aim to provide a better standard of living for those families living in poverty. YUM aims to create a foundation for long-term stability and growth by promoting cooperation between members of each community and show communities what can be achieved when they work together.

Agroforestry

The island of Borneo is home to some of the last tropical forests on the planet. Nested in the Indonesian part of Borneo, Central Kalimantan faces many environmental and social challenges: land speculation, farmers struggling to cultivate the land due to poor acid sandy soils and high temperatures all year round and produce poor in nutrition, obtained primarily through the extensive use of chemicals and much effort.

Research has shown that the natural regeneration of the lands devastated by fires and deforestation can produce, in a short period of time, a ground cover evolving into shrubs and young trees. Through harnessing this existing natural process of regeneration and combining it with the best locally adapted practices, we have initiated a feasible and practical pilot project for sustainable land use solutions to be shared and replicated among smallholder farmers.

In 2018, YUM invested in the establishment of a model agroforestry farm. Set in a 1,5 hectares of land, the pilot plot is a multi-layer and diversified system working along the natural regeneration process. Three years into its initial implementation, the pilot project has achieved rewarding results. The pilot proves to be a good model for reforestation and food security using sustainable principles.

The next steps would be to:

• Work alongside community leaders to co-design campaigns that will generate interest from farmers and stakeholders on the benefits of sustainable land use.
• Empower farmers with skills, tools and data so they can make informed farming decisions. Our people-centered approach will help farmers become multipliers of sustainable practices in their communities.
• Connect farmers with access to capital, market and technology in order to ensure sustained change.

The majority of farmers in the area of Bukit Batu only plant one crop on their land. In comparison, our pilot plot has such a diversity of plants. This makes our land so much cooler, greener and beautiful. We can see the trees and plants are stronger than those in monoculture plots. Besides that, after two years of helping the trees grow, it seems that they no longer need support and are growing by themselves. You can see life happening in the plot!

Siska Novitasari, Agroforestry Project Coordinator

Watch the full story of the project here