First published : 31 January 2018

BOYOLALI - “A low carbon guideline will be developed to help farmers and the rest of the community in practicing agricultural activities through the Lestari Verification.  Through this verification process, farmers are trained on how to produce low carbon agricultural products that make them more competitive in the market segments, which will in turn improve the price of their products,” said Ferdinand Lahnstein, the Vice Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in his opening speech during the launching of the program on 19 January 2018 in Setabelan Village, Selo, Boyolali. 

The launching of the program was attended by administrative officials of the villages in Merapi and Merbabu Volcanoes area, relevant government institutions including Boyolali District Office for Agriculture, Crop Estate, and Forestry; Local Office for Community and Rural Empowerment; Gunung Merbabu National  Park Office; and Gunung Merapi National Park Office.

The Program can potentially provide benefit to around 12,000 households or 50,000 beneficiaries who live in the buffer zones of Mount Merapi and Mount Merbabu and depend their lives on their ecosystems. The strategy will not only protect the ecosystems of Merapi-Merbabu volcanoes but also strengthen the economic condition of most community whose lives depend on the ecosystems. The Merapi – Merbabu landscape covers 5 districts and 14 sub-districts within Ring 1 and affects the life and livelihood of more than 500,000 population living in the landscape as well as the low land regions.

The majority of the people living in Merapi – Merbabu are vegetable farmers and cattle farmers, who are still in need of skill and knowledge development on good agricultural practices and conservation techniques. They have low productivity and unstable income as a result of lack of access to the wider markets.

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ program aims at improving the knowledge of the farmers and the wider community on post-harvest management and market access through sharing of technology and farmers’ training, which will involve national as well as internasional experts. The program will also involve the participation from and collaboration of different stakeholders, including through the Sustainable Food Landscape Secretariat (Sekretariat Kawasan Pangan Berkelanjutan/SKPB). The Secretariat is a multi-stakeholder platform in Central Java with a vision of a sustainable landscape in Central Java.