Assistance for Residents of Klegung village, Nglipar

 What food plants do you have around your house? It was the question asked by Trustha Rembaka, coordinator of Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta, to the residents of Klegung, Katongan, Nglipar who took part in the Discussion on Domestic Food Security, in collaboration with students of the Field Lecture 56 Institute of Village Development APMD Yogyakarta (28/8/2023). They were enthusiastic about telling about the food plants in their homes, including chilies, mustard greens, eggplant, celery, corn, cassava, papaya, shallots, and animal food sources such as goats, cows and catfish.

The question above opened a discussion on the issue of Food Security in Indonesia which has become an interesting topic of conversation because it is related to various factors, such as increasing population and food needs, decreasing agricultural land area due to changes in the function of agricultural land, the threat of climate change and worse agriculture itself not being a priority for young people to work. However, the world of agriculture will continue to be needed along life.

Furthermore, Trustha explained that according to the regulation of  the government law No. 12 of 2012 concerning Food, Article 1 paragraph 4, Food Security is a condition that food is available for the state and individuals, which is reflected in the availability of sufficient food, both in quantity and quality, safe, diverse, nutritious, equitable and affordable and it does not conflict with people's religion, beliefs and culture, giving  healthy, active and productive life sustainably. The next question is how to meet individual food needs. One alternative is to strengthen household food security by mapping family food needs.

In this mapping process, each participant knows what foods their family often consumes and what they can cultivate as a family or as a local community group. Here, the participants learn about the principle of 'nandur apa sing dipangan, mangan apa sing ditandur' (Javanese) or 'plant what you eat, eat what you plant.'

Trustha also guided participants to learn about the diversity of food from animal sources such as chicken, duck, tilapia, catfish, and beef, as well as plant food sources such as cassava, rice, sweet potato, gembili, mustard greens, papaya, and ginger. Then look at food ingredients based on harvest time, whether daily (eggs), weekly (sprouts, seedbeds), monthly (mustard greens, kale, quarterly: chilies, eggplant, tilapia, catfish), semester (livestock rearing, up to annuals such as fruit). Food diversity is a strengthening element in food security.

At the end of the session and as a follow-up action to maintain domestic food security, participants planned to grow new seeds at their home gardens and some fields. During the discussion, several stories were revealed, such as some families had more harvests, and some others needed certain seeds for their gardens. Interestingly, the participants were encouraged to offer the seeds they owned to be planted by other colleagues.

They actually have knowledge, awareness, willingness to act, and a sense of togetherness. This is the basic element to make domestic food security real. Dusun Klegung can do it!***

 Indonesia has rich biodiversity from plant food sources. There are 77 types of carbohydrate sources, 26 types of nuts, 389 types of fruits, 228 types of vegetables, 110 types of spices and seasonings, 40 types of beverages, and 1.260 types of medicinal plants. Then, food is everything that comes from biological sources of agricultural, plantation, forestry, fishery, animal husbandry, aquatic, and water products, both processed and unprocessed as food or drinks for human consumption.

Food wealth in Indonesia has not been much followed by efforts to obtain derivative products. Derivative processing is important to make optimal use of raw products, especially during over-production. Skills for processing food are a concern of Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta as a human resource development institution. Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta took the initiative to introduce the technique of fermenting cashew fruit and cashew floss (26/08/2023).

Fermentation is the process of decomposing organic compounds carried out by microorganisms that produce energy, in this case, fermentation to produce derivative products. Cashew is the choice because so far farmers only take cashew nuts while the fruit has not been used, even though there are various potencies of processed cashew nuts besides cashews, including syrup, wine, jam, floss, and taffy snack. Cashew production in Indonesia, the three largest are in East Nusa Tenggara, Southeast Sulawesi, and East Java, but the area of land until 2022 is decreasing from 555 thousand hectares to 436 thousand hectares due to the conversion of agricultural commodities and land conversion. Recorded cashew production in 2022 is 171 thousand tons (Ministry of Agriculture).

The practice of making fermented cashew nuts uses 1 liter of cashew fruit juice, 3/4 kg of sugar, and 2 liters of water. Boil these ingredients and let them until they cool completely. Next, add Fermipan. The fruit juice is kept in a modified airlock jar to enter the fermentation phase for a minimum of three weeks and later can produce as many as twelve bottles @ 250 ml of fermented cashew.

Meanwhile, cashew floss uses cashew pulp. Cashew pulp is finely chopped and steamed. The spices needed include shallots, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, and brown sugar, then sauteed. Next, mix the spices in the chopped cashew fruit, fry, and drain using a spinner until the cooking oil is completely gone. The cashew floss product in 50-gram packaging is an alternative side dish to complement hot rice.

Processed products of wine and cashew floss are an alternative to developing the potential of cashew nuts to be promoted to commercial business and even become a competitive product. Come on, young people, improve your skills in processing local food-based products and be smart in taking business opportunities. ***

Food is a basic human need, and there are many food sources provided by nature that allow humans to take, to breed and to process according to their wants and needs. Indonesia has a lot of local food diversity in each region, but not everyone can process it into other products. Local Food Initiative program done by Stube HEMAT invites students, especially women who are studying in Yogyakarta, to learn how to manage local food. On this occasion, participants learn one derivative product of catfish, that is, catfish floss. This training is intended to prepare students to be able to produce and to start a business in their spare time, or to be equipped with skills when they return to their regions. 

Located at the secretariat of Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta (15/08/2023), students attended training accompanied by Sarlota Wantaar as the trainer. Before starting practice, students get a theory about how the process and what ingredients are used. There are 5 kgs of catfish available for today practice with spices consisting of garlic, onion, ginger, brown sugar, orange leaf, bay leaf, turmeric, salt, lemongrass, galangal, cooking oil, and organic flavoring.

First, the catfish is cleaned, then steamed for 20 minutes, continuing with the process of separating the fish bones from the meat. Separating catfish bones off the meat requires patience and accuracy because there are many fine and small bones.  Seasonings that have been mashed, sauteed and mixed in catfish meat. Next, fry it for 25 to 30 minutes until the color turns brownish. Prepare a spinner to separate the oil from cooking, after cooling, mashing, weighing, finally it is the packaging process.

Products are ready to be marketed by enlivening the bazaar, held by the Indonesian Baptist Church Yogyakarta (17/08/2023), in commemoration of the 78th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia. Participants learn marketing and how to do promotions. Explaining the functions, benefits and ingredients of a product, will convince consumers to buy it.

Local food has the potential to be developed into a commercial business and women can be actively involved in managing it. Women not only see or hear, but they dare to act without fear of being wrong and afraid of failure. Women keep to be advanced. ***