Human Initiative Helps Strengthen Food Security for Covid-19 Survivors with Nutrition Gardens

In the Global Humanitarian Report 2021, the issue of hunger is mentioned as one of the priority issues facing humanity in the future. This is based on the fact that as many as 77 million people in 22 countries are experiencing acute hunger recorded in the report. Even the impact of the pandemic and climate change is predicted to cause as many as 270 million people to experience a food crisis by the end of 2020. This is because both conditions have an impact on food systems around the world. This also causes the need for handling the food crisis in 2020 to increase by almost 100% compared to 2015, from 5 billion USD to 10 billion USD.

Human Initiative since 2020 has held the Food Security Program externally in several regions in Indonesia. This is in response to a pandemic condition that causes restrictions on the mobilization of people and goods, including staple foods. One of the intervention areas is Sasak Panjang Village, Tajurhalang District, Bogor Regency which was intervened from March to November 2021.

The forms of program intervention provided include:
1. Training on fishery and vegetable business planning
2. Construction of a Green House with Hydroponic Installation and 5 Freshwater Fish Ponds
3. Two time Hydroponic vegetable cultivation trainings
4. 2 times Trainings on freshwater fish farming with biofloc system
5. One-time hydroponic vegetable post-harvest management training
6. One training on post-harvest management of freshwater fish
7. One-time product marketing training
8. Seven times Coaching and mentorings.

Initially, the people of Sasakpanjang Village, Tajurhalang District, were people who were not used to cultivating vegetables and freshwater fish. After the program intervention, the community was able to carry out the cultivation of vegetables and freshwater fish well. The results of the activity evaluation measurements showed that after the program intervention, 80% of the beneficiaries had good skills in managing vegetable cultivation. As many as 85% of beneficiaries have good capacity in managing freshwater fish farming. As many as 82% of beneficiaries have good capacity in post-harvest management of vegetable crops and 83% are good in post-harvest of freshwater fish.

The results of measuring the impact of the program are known that before the program intervention as many as 88% of the community found it difficult to get food supplies, after the intervention, the number decreased to 24%. Not only has an impact on the ease of access to food, this program also has an impact on increasing people’s income. As many as 52% of program beneficiaries increased their income. This is because every freshwater fish harvest is processed by residents into frozen food to be sold to the wider community. Profit from sales is for business managers. The amount of the increase in income varies, as many as 68% of the beneficiaries increased their income by 1 million rupiah per month, as many as 24% increased by 2 million to 4 million rupiah per month, and as many as 4% of the community increased by more than 4 million rupiah.

Through this program, beneficiaries are also facilitated to be able to form and manage Farmer Groups known as Gizi Permai Farm. Initially, Permai Farm Nutrition Farmers Group became a group that managed the infrastructure provided by Human Initiative. However, with intense assistance, this group was able to develop a food security program at the RT (smallest group community) level. The program is in the form of providing subsidized grants for the construction of biofloc fish ponds to all RTs in the RW 12 area, where the grants are given from the sale of hydroponic vegetables and biofloc tilapia. To date, there are 33 biofloc fish ponds in the RW 12 area, consisting of 5 Gizi Permai Farm ponds, 20 ponds in each RT, and 8 community ponds in RW 12.

The products from Gizi Permai Farm, apart from hydroponic fresh vegetables and fresh tilapia, also include vegetable juices, vegetable salads, frozen marinated fish, and so on. Marketing of hydroponic vegetable production and biofloc fish has entered several areas outside RW 12, such as Tangerang, Depok and Jakarta. Permai Farm Nutrition Farmers Group also cooperates with Agrifarm Bogor and Asmalam Sinar Turnip Bogor to meet the huge market demand, even exceeding the production capacity of the nutrition gardens. In addition, processed vegetable and fish products such as vegetable juices, vegetable salads, and fish marinated also have a very large market, these products are often exhibited at bazaars and exhibitions at every major events. This Food security program has received many positive responses from several parties such as related agencies, students and educational institutions including:

1. Sasak Panjang Village Government, Tajurhalang District Government, and Bogor Regency Government. The Bogor Regency Government will provide Food Security funding assistance in the form of making Green Houses to support Green Houses in the Permai Farm Nutrition area in order to meet market demand.

2. Bogor Regency Agriculture Office. The Permai Farm Nutrition Farmers Group is legal and registered with SIMLUHTAN and can receive Saprodi (Production Facilities) assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture.

3. Bogor Regency Fisheries Service. Permai Farm’s nutrition will be issued with a Fisheries Decree to be registered with Exkusuka in order to receive Saprodi assistance (production facilities) from the Ministry of Fisheries.

4. Department of Cooperatives and SMEs Bogor Regency. Permai Farm nutrition has been made an NIB and several members have registered for PKP training (Food Safety Counseling), in order to get PIRT (permits intended for certain types of food).

5. Healthy Mother’s House (RBS) Bekasi. Permai Farm Gizi members are invited to become Facilitators on Biofloc Freshwater Fish Cultivation and Biofloc Pond Construction.

6. Bus’ro Al Karim Middle School, Tajurhalang. Permai Farm Nutrition members were invited to build a Biofloc Pond in order to participate in the Adiwiyata Competition.

7. DKP (Food Security Service) Bogor Regency. Gizi Permai Farm has carried out laboratory checks on hydroponic vegetables. The result is that the hydroponic vegetables from Gizi Permai Farm are free of pesticides.

8. Bogor Regency Government (Bogor Regency Anniversary 2022): Head of RW 12 (in charge of Permai Farm Nutrition Farmers Group) became the Best RW in Bogor Regency in the categories of environmental management, community empowerment and food security.

9. Students of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. One of the students of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta conducted research to write a thesis on the Initiative for Empowerment to Support the SDGs.

10. IPB students. One of the IPB students conducted research to write a thesis on Hydroponic Vegetable Cultivation and Biofloc Fish Cultivation System.

11. Ciseeng Cooperative. Gizi Permai Farm cooperates with the Ciseeng cooperative to supply sales of fresh tilapia and frozen marinated tilapia.

12. Initiative Forum. One member of Permai Farm’s Gizi (Bu Yustiana) received an award at the 2022 Initiative Forum activity as an Achievement Beneficiaries in the Food Security Sector category.

“We are very grateful to Human Initiative for choosing Sasak Panjang Permai community as the beneficiaries of this food security program. This program really helped us when the Covid-19 pandemic hit at that time. We are currently working to develop this program so that it will benefit the community at large and in a sustainable manner. This is a form of our trust and gratitude to donors and the Human Initiative. Hopefully, many people around our environment will benefit directly or indirectly, and hopefully we can continue to collaborate with various parties so that Gizi Permai Farm can develop into a bigger one,” said Yustiana.
“Initially, I thought that this program was only able to overcome the problem of food security in one of the communities affected by Covid-

19. But it turns out they are capable of even greater things. Those who initially did not have the slightest competence on how to cultivate hydroponic vegetables and freshwater fish cultivation with a biofloc system, at this time they actually give a lot of their knowledge and experience to many people, this is an extraordinary thing. My hope as the Project Manager of this program is that Gizi Permai Farm will become a group that is able to motivate many people to do the same thing,” said Royaldo Gia Pratama, the Project Chair.