“Bunda Mengajar” Program Boosts Urban Farming Enthusiasm Among Mothers in Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta – Facilitators of the “Bunda Mengajar” (Eng: Teaching Mom) program happily conducted guidance and vegetable harvesting with mothers from the Subur Ceria Women Farmers Group (KWT) in Pringgokusuman Village, Gedongtengen, Yogyakarta (July 25th). This activity is part of a program aimed at preventing stunting cases in the area.

The “Bunda Mengajar” program is a mentoring initiative by Human Initiative in Yogyakarta, with support from PT. Danone Indonesia and PT. Sarihusada Generasi Mahardika. The program’s goal is to support the prevention of stunting cases, especially in Yogyakarta, by encouraging mothers involved in the Subur Ceria Women Farmers Group to engage in urban farming in their community.

Agus Triyono, the Head of Human Initiative Yogyakarta, explained that the mothers participating in the “Bunda Mengajar” program are not only involved in urban farming. The program also provides mentoring to mothers through micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), various educational activities, and promotes clean and healthy living behaviors (PHBS) through community sanitation programs.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the “Bunda Mengajar” program also fosters collaborative opportunities within the community’s activities. If the harvest from the Women Farmers Group is more than enough, it will be channeled to community health centers (Posyandu) as support for supplementary feeding. However, if the harvest is just enough, the produce will be used by the Women Farmers Group members or sold to nearby communities.

Support that Ignites Our Enthusiasm

During the vegetable harvesting activity, mothers from the Subur Ceria Women Farmers Group successfully harvested spinach. Besides spinach, even though it wasn’t harvest season yet, the mothers, along with the “Bunda Mengajar” program facilitators, also planted other vegetables such as water spinach, chili, tomatoes, as well as herbs and crops.

Mujiasih, one of the mothers from the Subur Ceria Women Farmers Group, shared how the support and mentoring from donors have motivated them to actively engage in farming. She cited a small but meaningful example of receiving a hose that has made watering their plants easier.

“Now it’s easier for us to water the plants because we have the tools to support our farming activities, like this hose. With this hose, we no longer struggle to water the vegetables in the alley and around the garden,” she said during the vegetable harvesting activity with the “Bunda Mengajar” facilitators.

Reporter: Human Initiative Yogyakarta