Exploring Strategies for Managing Supply and Demand, Beyond Just “Food Estates”
UNPAR.AC.ID, Bandung – October 16 is commemorated as World Food Day. Each time this day comes to mind, the issue of food security always emerges. To this day, I believe that food security remains a task that Indonesia must address.
When discussing food security, there are two villages that we can refer to: Ciptagelar Village and Cireundeu Traditional Village, both located in West Java Province.
Ciptagelar Village is situated in Sirnaresmi Village, Sukabumi Regency. Located on the slopes of Mount Halimun at an elevation of 1,050 meters above sea level, Ciptagelar Village enjoys a cool mountain climate. As a traditional village, the residents of Ciptagelar firmly uphold traditions in applying agricultural systems that have been passed down for centuries.
Thanks to this strategy, Ciptagelar Village has consistently achieved food independence for a long time. By employing a natural farming system, without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the rice fields in Ciptagelar can yield up to 10 tons per hectare, a productivity rate well above the Indonesian average.
By paying attention to ecological balance and maintaining soil fertility, farmers in Ciptagelar plant rice only once a year. However, they never face a shortage of rice, as their harvests are not only consumed but also stored in rice barns (locally known as leuit), of which there are no fewer than 11,000 in the village.
This situation enables them to meet the rice needs of 30,000 residents for the next 95 years. Not only is an ecologically friendly agricultural system practiced for food preparation, but a series of rituals are also performed during planting and harvesting, even when cooking the rice.
Cireundeu Traditional Village serves as the second example of a region that has achieved food independence. Administratively, Cireundeu Traditional Village is part of Cimahi City. However, due to its location at the foot of Mount Puncaaksalam at an elevation of 950 meters above sea level and surrounded by Mount Kunci, Mount Cimenteng, and Mount Gajahlangu, the atmosphere in Cireundeu resembles that of a rural area, with most residents engaged in farming.
One unique aspect of Cireundeu is the residents’ staple food, which is cassava rice (referred to as rasi), rather than rice from paddy. This practice has been in place since 1924, based on the belief that the food crop that grows best in their village is cassava, given that most of the agricultural land consists of forests and fields.
The decision to choose cassava over rice was made to achieve independence, not only politically from the Dutch at that time but also economically, including not relying on external food supplies.
Like the residents of Ciptagelar, farmers in Cireundeu also practice a farming system that does not use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. To protect their water sources, the residents of Cireundeu have divided their forest areas into three zones. First, a conservation forest (leuweung) that must not be exploited, where trees cannot be cut down to preserve the forest’s function as a water catchment area. Second, a managed forest (leuweung tutupan), where trees can be cut down, but each felled tree must be replaced with a new one. Third, a cultivation area (leuweung baladahan), where residents convert forest land into fields, primarily planting cassava, the local staple food.
Similar to Ciptagelar, the residents of Cireundeu have never experienced food shortages.
Several points can be noted from Ciptagelar and Cireundeu. Both have reached a stage of food independence, not merely food security. Food independence means that their needs can be met from local supplies, without needing to import from outside.
Food security emphasizes the availability of food at affordable prices, which can sometimes be fulfilled through imports when domestic food supplies are insufficient. Clearly, the status of food independence is more stable than that of food security.
In achieving food independence, both Ciptagelar and Cireundeu residents apply environmentally friendly agricultural systems, as they do not use any chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The results have proven to be competitive with conventional agriculture based on the green revolution. Not only in terms of productivity, but ecologically-minded agricultural systems do not generate the environmental impacts typically associated with synthetic production-based agriculture.
Currently, organic farming does not mean a lack of cultivation technology. Agricultural experts have developed non-GMO seeds and various microbial benefits to enhance food crop productivity. Environmentally friendly organic farming that produces safe, nutrient-rich food products can still achieve high productivity. I have discussed some of these in my previous articles.
A series of rituals during the planting, nurturing, harvesting, and cooking of rice reflects the commitment of the residents of Ciptagelar in managing their food sector. It is hoped that this dedication will prevent food waste, a concern for many.
The shift in staple food from rice to cassava in Cireundeu Traditional Village illustrates that managing the demand side is also necessary to achieve food independence. Residents are encouraged to consume food obtained from local cultivation. Taste adjustments are made rather than strongly pushing the supply side to meet demand preferences.
Indeed, the food fulfillment policies of the two villages described above operate on a small scale, that of villages (which, in terms of area, are part of larger administrative units like sub-districts or municipalities), far from the challenges of fulfilling food needs for the entire population of a large country like Indonesia. However, the principles underlying their practices can serve as valuable lessons.
For food security, there’s no harm in exploring various strategies to manage both supply and demand, rather than limiting ourselves to the strategy of establishing food estates in several places outside Java. Ciptagelar and Cireundeu provide valuable insights for developing such strategies.
This article was written by Siwi Nugraheni, Dra., M.Env. (Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics). It is a republication and was previously published on kompas.id on October 15, 2024, under the title “Learning Food Independence from Villages.”
