Empowering Women in Kalimantan to Prevent Stunting

It has been more than a year since the first Covid-19 case outbreak in Indonesia. The conditions are slowly improving and vaccines are being distributed to the elderly, however for many families in rural areas, life is still far from what it used to be before. For many, the decrease, or even worse, the loss of income has affected their ability to meet their basic needs, such as food.

After a short survey of households in Bukit Batu, Central Kalimantan to find out what support families needed most, a program distributing subsidized home garden materials was introduced. The materials include chicken manure, raw husks, seeds, agricultural lime, and polybags. The project aims to help families grow their own vegetables and be able to fulfill their food needs independently.  Our hope is for families to be able to nourish themselves as well as reduce the spread of the virus by avoiding going to the public market where the spread of the virus was very high. 

Today, there are 211 families in Bukit Batu who are benefiting from the food security program and 94% of them are women. Our team on the ground actively monitors the growth and the yield of vegetables. The participants who have the means to use WhatsApp are included in the "food security-home garden" group, while those who do not, are visited by our trainer to their homes. 

"My name is Lilies, and I am a housewife. I have always liked gardening because it is a fun activity. I happily agreed to participate in the YUM Home Garden program. I get so many benefits such as reducing my expenses on shopping for vegetables in the market. The vegetables that are harvested in my garden are healthier for my family’s consumption and I can sell the surplus to my neighbors and receive an income from the sale."

YUM hopes to reach at least another 100 families so they too may benefit from growing their own vegetables, which not only reduces their daily expenses but also keeps them healthy during this pandemic.