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Facilitating Rural Woman Political Empowerment

Woman is one of the social groups who encounter political poverishment, particularly for their participation in public decision making. At national level, the number of women as parliament members has not reached 30% which is a crucial point to control policy making, even though there is a leaning to increase by years. At the smaller governmental level, there is also a leaning of the decrease on the number of women in decision making institutions. It is affected strongly by educational level of women internally and culture and political system externally that has not given enough support to the openness of participation room for women. The situation will be much harder for women who encounter economic poverishment. They stay at the lowest level of empowerment which is improper prosperous life. It will be difficult for them to reach higher level of empowerment, benefit and access, especially the participation which is the highest one. All difficulties and hard efforts by women to realize their participation become collective responsibility between the government and the society in order to reach the highest empowerment level.

Women in rural areas are frequently left in strategic decision making both in the governmental and in the societal level. They who live their life as farmers, workers, small-scale traders, rounded-sellers, pre-school teachers, and other special informal jobs of women are still considered as additional income getter in the family or as the second position after the men in economy. On the other hand, in many rural households a woman’s role in economy has become the primary support which takes a large portion of family income. Rural people who mostly depend their incomes on agricultural resources are the frail societal group to suffer from poverishment caused by industrial policies which are contradictory with agricultural development. This condition does not support democratization with the reason that it hinders woman’s aspiration channeling that will be impacted on unsuccessful program implementation to reach its goal.

A general picture of the problems above has shown in most districts of East Java as the result of social analysis by certain NGOs in relationship with the woman participation in decision making issue. Their works include conducting several efforts to promote rural woman participation. Their experiences in running woman empowerment and policy advocacy programs have proven the existence of the problems above and have found many best practices and lessons.

There are two steps to be essentially implemented to facilitate woman participation in producing gender responsive policies. Firstly, woman organizing is a step as a solution of political poverishment on women internally. Women, specifically in rural areas, have to get political education to wake their consciousness to break all cultural barriers and systems that discriminate them lately. Afterwards, they have to build a systematic strength through organizations on the purpose of increasing their bargaining position in the governmental and societal level.

Certain NGOs note some experiences for channeling their aspirations women can build their own groups, join the woman group such as PKK (women working group of family prosperous empowerment)  and religious groups, or join the mixed-sex groups such as farmer groups and cooperatives. Along with the implementation of gender mainstreaming in government’s programs, women have an opportunity to build their own farmer groups and cooperatives. Facilitated by organizers from the partners, several woman groups have been established at the village and sub-district level through the process of awareness on the importance of woman participation on planning and budgeting to realize gender responsive budget. By means of extension and discussion altogether with various woman groups, such as PKK, religious groups, Muslimat and Fatayat, woman cooperatives, farmer groups, and Posyandu (Rural Integrated Service Center) cadres, the NGOs can determine strategic issues in each district to implement gender responsive budget advocacy. The issues are maternal and child health, child education, households economy, and sustainable agriculture.

The second step is gender responsive policy advocacy. Educations and trainings for rural woman groups can be valuable provisions to conduct advocacy at the village and district level. At the village level, certain policies have been advocated by rural woman groups and organizers from the NGOs such as Village Fund Allocation (ADD) implementation, the National Program of Rural Independent Community Empowerment (PNPM-MP), Woman Cooperatives, Village Budget Revenues and Expenditures (APBDes), and Village Mid-term Development Planning (RPJMDes), so all of these can be gender responsive. The number of delegation from woman groups who involve in Development Planning Discussion Forum (Musrenbang) have increased  in both quantity and quality at the village to district level, so the groups’ proposals can be accommodated in APBDes and APBD. At the district level, woman groups conducted audience with related Local Government Workforce Unit (SKPD) such as Local Planning Agency (Bappeda), Woman Empowerment Agency, and People and Village Government Empowerment Agency, for proposing some activities in accordance with woman needs and accessing the government’s program and monitoring the program’s implementation. Other forms of advocacy are a Hearing to the local parliament and Community Aspiration Assessments (Jasmas) by parliament members for channeling women’s aspiration to propose some programs in health, economy, and agriculture sectors and to arrange a Local Regulation of Woman Participation in Public Policy Making.

Organizing principles implemented correctly by the organizers from the NGOs will form independent and sustainable rural woman groups. This condition is supported by the background of the group’s formation that has been appropriated for woman needs and has brought positive impacts to the village development. In the first year of the program implementation by the NGOs, the organizing process has been dominant as the preparation of advocacy process that will be dominant in the next year. Despite woman organizing in the village, a series of capacity building activities for organizers from the NGOs, woman groups, and the village apparatus was conducted and continued with assistance and monitoring to particular districts in East Java in order to assure that they can implement the program successfully. The advocacy and investigation process to the government and local parliament were continued by the NGOs and woman groups in building cooperation to conduct various activities at village and district level and building networks in the form of the formation of Caucus of Indonesia’s Woman in Politic.

Dian Pratiwi Pribadi

A Worry About Indonesia’s Future

Corn farmer in Kediri

Due to some reasons, the youth in Indonesia do not pay enough attention to agriculture recently. The simple cause for them to feel at the first time is that agriculture deals with something dirty and disgusting. They assumed working in agriculture has to be farmers that get connected daily with sand, river’s water, rotten plants, animal’s waste etc. They also have to stay under the sun for a long time that can make dark skin and sweated bodies. Then being farmers is identically recognized with poverty. This assumption cannot be faulted because most of Indonesia’s people lived in poverty are farmers. It’s hard to be farmers since their cost of production sometimes is higher than the selling one. Their performance, they usually wear plain clothes, makes them look so simple indeed. The final reason is that there is less agricultural development by the government than the industrial one. It results lack of job opportunity for the youth to develop themselves. With all those conditions, people might be worried about Indonesia’s future in development as an agrarian country.

Dian Pratiwi Pribadi

A Truth Behind The Use of Genetically Modified Organisms

Various varieties of local corn seeds

Genetically Modified Organisms, usually called as GMOs or transgenic organisms, should be prohibited. The opponents of this statement argue that a massive production of GMOs which produced food can reduce hunger in the world whose population is increasing much higher than the production of food. This argument is half untrue. Although the improvement of GMOs will eliminate famine in several parts of the world, they can destroy farmers’ livelihood as food producers. They cannot compete fairly with big corporations who can produce GMOs in a larger amount, a shorter time, and a cheaper price because of their high technology and plentiful money. Eventually, the farmers become poor and will suffer from hunger. According to recent researches, if all the farm fields are planted staple food effectively, efficiently, and sustainably, there will be enough food to feed the world. A research also shows that GMOs can cause cancer and other genetically diseases, especially for human beings and animals. From environmental point of view, GMOs are recognized as an alien in an ecosystem so they can disturb an ecological balance. In agricultural perspective, farmers can be dependent on GMOs and their packages when produced because they require some particular matters to be grown as an external input. Maybe the use of GMOs can reduce famine, but it also can produce poverty in the world. For that reason, GMOs should not be used legally because of their bad effects on both human and the environment.

Dian Pratiwi Pribadi

Organic Farming

Organic manure in highland

Organic farming is a farming system using some organic inputs of production and integrated management among all agriculture resources. Organic inputs consist of fertilizers, pesticides, and seeds that are free from chemicals. The fertilizers must be made of organic matters, such as manure, leaves, waste of harvested plants or rotted food. To avoid pests and diseases, farmers would better manufacture those matters to be compost so they can be ready to use. In addition, they have to use organic matters to produce pesticides. They can compose it from poisonous and/or bitter parts of plant, for example leaf or fruit, and add some water with or without other fermenting materials. For the last input, farmers usually use local seeds that have good adaptation to the farm environment and suitable with organic fertilizers and pesticides. Then to implement integrated management in organic farming, farmers have to combine the inputs of production with the conserved land tillage and water management. The best practice of land tillage is a zero-tillage that can reserve land fertility and minimize water needs. Furthermore, farmers manage to water the land so that the water don’t include any chemical materials and it’s efficiently lower the cost. As a conclusion, organic farming is highly recommended to produce high quality and healthy farm products, and keep a sustainable farm environment.

Dian Pratiwi Pribadi

Seeds Belong to Farmers

High quality corn seeds produced by farmers

The seed is the source of life for most creatures. A seed grows to be a plant functioned to run life-cycle of the earth for some reasons. Herbivores consume it in many ways to live their life. Several creatures stay in specific plants indeed as their habitat. Particularly for human being, a seed is immensely important in any sectors of life. A political phrase says that: “The one who can control the seed will control the world”. It means that one can produce various kinds of plants from indigenous seeds taken from the forest. Plant production determines whether hunger or prosperity happening in the world. Thereby, Indonesia has the richest biodiversity in the world, chiefly consists of plants grown in the forest. At the beginning, farmers had got seeds from the forest. Then they cultivated them in the field. Traditional farmers maintain local seeds so they can be planted in the next planting season. In this way, farmers depend on seeds as crucial means of production in their livelihood. Thus, agriculture field is developed by the knowledge of seedlings in one aspect.

Diverse kinds of seeds production are mastered by farmers for some conditions. Hundreds of farmers in Kediri and surrounding area in East Java are skilled in corn seeds production, since East Java is the biggest corn production in the country, with the largest harvested area. Its climate and culture provides appropriate environment. Producing a corn seed is the most profitable among any others though. Furthermore, still thousands farmers in Java and outer islands are well-experienced in bearing various varieties of paddy, vegetable and fruit seeds. They use conventional practices to produce seeds, sometimes combined with advanced technology that they learn from cooperation process with company autonomously, or contemporary ones from trainings and extension by field officers. By producing seeds themselves, farmers can reduce the cost of production and increase farm income. Seeds produced by farmers are certainly cheaper and environmentally safer than company’s production. They get used to creating their own way to produce a seed using local wisdom to survive.

Big problems then were faced by farmers. Since 2004, there were 15 corn seed farmers have been assumed to break the Law No. 12/1992 on Plant Cultivation System. Some of them had to be jailed for months. It’s all just because they produced and sold seed without legal certification, the practices they had been done for years. A big seed company was behind this case and assumed farmers used its patented seed. Farmers had no idea about the Law as the field officers have never explained or warned. In condition that farmers had to face the law enforcement, the government officer testified against farmers. This contra-productive act insulted farmers as criminals. Because of this case, many farmers were intimidated by the police. As a result, they were afraid of producing seed anymore. Some of them and their family have become traumatic for never facing the law before. Thereby, they lose their livelihoods.

To improve development for farmer’s interest as a core actor in agriculture, the government and stakeholders must deliver solutions to this seed farmer’s case. They should take this phrase as their principle: “Land belongs to farmers as a tiller, so do seeds (instead of the company)”. Some experts in law and agriculture declare their analysis that there is a trade competition above the case. The act that the government takes side in the company interest is untrue. There must be some policies and programs to protect farmers from criminalization against company. Farmers have to be given a large opportunity to manage their own farming to produce seeds with supportive policies. Traditional practices that are still useful to conserve seed variety and quality have to be defensible. These must be approved by substantial programs to maintain biodiversity and manage natural resources for a just prosperity of Indonesia people.

Dian Pratiwi Pribadi

Food Sovereignty For Farmers’ Wealth

For the sake of farmers’ wealth, the government must hold up food sovereignty. It means that the government has to arrange supportive policies and programs in order to fulfill food supply for the people and farmers themselves and raise their income as being food producers. First, government has to launch intensive extension and gives access to inputs resources, such as land, seeds, water, power, fertilizers, and pesticides, also credit to farmers implementing organic agriculture. Within this program, the food will be produced in natural and organic cultivation system. Besides getting healthy food, the farmland and its surrounding environment will be kept sustainably and productively by the system. This is also a purpose of food sovereignty. Then, the government must provide supportive policies to build a fair market for farmer’s production. For example, it has to decrease imported agriculture products or increase their taxes, stabilize farm gate prices, and allocate in-country investment. These programs and policies provide farmers with healthier food produced by them and increase the output they can sell in fair markets to raise farm income.

Dian Pratiwi Pribadi