Food security through organic farming in Indonesia

Dear Friends,

I hope the year has started well for you.

My name is Vina, and I am the Administrative Assistant at the farm. If you have ever ordered vegetables online or contacted us through WhatsApp, chances are I was the one responding to you. Since joining the farm in 2020, it has been a real pleasure connecting with so many of our customers.

My work includes helping manage customer orders, assisting the farm team to ensure that vegetables are harvested and prepared according to our quality standards, and compiling reports on our daily farm operations.

I would like to personally thank you for your continued support. Your commitment has been instrumental in helping our organic farm grow and sustain its work.

Thanks to you, in 2025 we were able to:

• Produce and sell more than 150 varieties of organic vegetables and herbs

• Welcome 33 interns from agricultural schools and universities, giving young people practical learning opportunities

• Distribute nearly 100 food packages to families in need living around the farm

Another exciting development this year was the opening of our store in Jakarta, where customers can purchase fresh organic produce as well as handmade merchandise created by our sewing group in Cipanas.

If you are ever in Jakarta, we would love for you to visit the store and meet our Jakarta team. You can find the location here.

On behalf of YUM and the communities we serve, thank you for being such an important part of the YUM Organic Farm. Your support makes our work possible, and we hope to welcome you to the farm one day.

Warm regards,
Vina
Organic Farm Administrative Assistant

Dear friends,

It’s so nice to reconnect with you, and we’re really excited to share some updates from the farm. As you may remember, 2024 was a big year for us — we successfully expanded into shiitake mushroom cultivation! This was a huge milestone, and it was only possible because of the incredible support from donors like you. Thanks to your help, we were able to purchase 4,000 spawn bags, pay our farmers’ salaries, and cover the day-to-day costs that keep the farm running.

We’re also thrilled to tell you about the next chapter of our growth. Right now, we’re working on building an integrated and sustainable farming system that brings together organic vegetables, poultry, and fish farming. The idea is simple but powerful: instead of letting organic waste go unused, we’re turning leftover vegetables into something valuable by transforming them into added nutrition for our livestock.

Our first integrated farming project was the renovation of our old pond for fish farming. What used to be just a water filtration pond is now a fully functioning 200 m² sustainable fish pond. We drained it, cleaned out all the sediment, and rebuilt it with tiered sections so we can separate fish by age. We also added filtration and sedimentation areas that double as growing spaces for aquatic plants like azolla and duckweed — natural, nutritious feed alternatives.

We’re now cultivating gourami fish and free-range chickens, both of which can thrive on plant-based diets. While leftover vegetables are great, they aren’t enough on their own to help the animals reach healthy, harvest-ready weight. That’s why we’re also growing Azolla and Lemna in the pond — both are fantastic natural sources of added nutrition. With this approach, our fish and chickens will become premium organic products, completely free from harmful chemicals.

Our second integrated farming project will focus on free-range chickens. We’re repurposing an old, unused goat shed and turning it into a proper chicken coop. The new farm will cover 300 m² and will follow a semi–free-range system: the chickens get to roam freely during the day and return safely to their coop at night to avoid predators.

We truly hope that you will continue to support our work to promote sustainable farming methods in the communities of Cipanas, West Java. It just so happens that today is Giving Tuesday, Today, thanks to GlobalGiving's $500,000 matching funds, every gift you make to this project will be boosted. That means your support helps us unlock additional funds to create an even bigger impact. Gifts are only matched for 36 hours - from Dec. 2 at 12 a.m. through Dec. 3 at 12 p.m. EST - so don't wait, and make your gift go even further today!

With gratitude.

The whole team at the YUM Organic Farm