28-12-21

Bakti Barito Foundation Supports National Food Security The Foundation initiates an integrated and sustainable farming program called Bakti Pangan Lestari

Jakarta, 28 December 2021 – Bakti Barito Foundation is supporting Indonesia’s food security goal through Bakti Pangan Lestari Program. Bakti Pangan Lestari contributes to the country’s food security and safety through building capacity of farmers and revitalizing the national curriculum on sustainable and integrated farming principles.

From 13-17 December 2021, Bakti Barito Foundation working together with a community-based organisation, The Learning Farm held a training program in Cianjur, West Java, for vocational teachers from a number of provinces in Indonesia.

The training aims to revitalise national curriculum by building the capacity of vocational teachers in agribusiness and agrotechnology, a first step to ensure that farming practices in the field can become more sustainable with less reliance on harmful pesticides and have better production yield. The revitalized module and results of trainings will be submitted formally to the Ministry of Education and Culture for strategic input.

Fifi Setiawaty, Chairperson of Bakti Barito Foundation said, “Promoting sustainable farming principles is an important part to ensure that we can have safer and better quality of fresh produce. Sustainable farming can provide food security for the communities as they can grow the fresh produce by themselves and safe cost.”

Bakti Pangan Lestari was awarded Gold Category in 2021 Indonesia Sustainable Development Award, an annual independent evaluation of corporate sustainability programs in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

During the pandemic, the program has also benefited farmers in Tebo Regency in Jambi. By growing their own vegetable, they are able to reduce food cost and save travel expense to the community market located far away from where they reside. “Bakti Pangan Lestari program has taught me to learn sustainable farming principles that helps enhance our farm’s produce, useful for our daily staple during Covid-19 pandemic’’ said Sugiyo, the head of  farmers community in Napal Putih village, Tebo Regency, who has received sustainable and integrated farming training. (***)