USAID LESTARI: STORY FROM THE FIELD

RESTORING CENTRAL KALIMANTAN’S RUBBER TO ITS FORMER GLORY

By: Meihaar Josiano Marsaoly & Jelfi

The 2015 and peatland fires that occurred in Central Kalimantan and other areas in Indonesia left us trauamtized. Agricultural land, , and were destroyed as they turned to dust and eva- porated as smoke. Almost every day, the sound of si- rens from passing fire trucks could be heard. The community struggled to save their fields, schools were closed, hospitals were full, and the airport was shut down, as economic activities came to a complete stop. Almost everyone in the Central Kalimantan experien- ced a substantial socio-economic loss. “Approximately 83% the The result of the 2015 forest fire impact study population of Central conducted by USAID LESTARI in the Katingan- Kahayan Landscape indicated that the total area Kalimantan are involved affected by the fires covered 304,113 hectares. This resulted in a decrease in the productivity of in plan- agricultural land/plantations by 40 percent, a de- tation. BI views rubber as crease in household income by 75 percent, and an increase in household expenditures by 207 per- the commodity that [highly] cent, mainly caused by an increase in healthcare influences income and the spending. overall economy of Central The extent of the burned area has left everyone disconcerted. Despite all the various methods Kalimantan,” said Andarias. used to try to extinguish the fire, unfortunately the fire has remained inextinguishable. Methods

USAID LESTARI: STORY FROM THE FIELD 1 such as water bombing have proven to be inef- “Approximately 83% the population of Central Ka- fective while opening new canals to channel water limantan are involved in natural rubber . from the river futher worsen the situation, deple- BI views rubber as the commodity that [highly] influen- ting the of its water content as the peat ces income and the overall economy of Central Kali- has a higher elevation level in comparison to the mantan,” said Andarias. river. These are just some fragments of the sto- ry behind the forest and peat fires in 2015 which The above-mentioned stakeholders have agreed devoured rubber plantations and farms owned by to help improve the quality of the commodity, de- local residents. termine intervention efforts and the supply chain, and maintain and develop the public-private part- nership. So far, the partnership has managed to start Potential Assets two pilot projects in Garung Village, Jabiren Raya Sub-district, and Purwodadi Village, Maliku Sub-dis- One of the few remaining plantations that mana- trict, Pulau Pisang District. ged to survive the disaster is rubber plantation. Rubber has been traditionally cultivated by the In both villages, USAID LESTARI and partners have people of Kalimantan since ages ago. After the built saung tani, a place where villagers can learn fire disaster, there remained 446,000 hectares of rubber farming, various fire prevention techniques, rubber plantation in the region. Although usually and good agricultural practices (GAP/ P3S). Rub- grown as a single crop, rubber can also be grown ber farmers are also grouped and institutionalized through intercropping with other plants. The re- through the establishment of Rubber Business cent rise in rubber price turns it into a valuable Groups (KUBK). These programs allow conventional commodity of Central Kalimantan. farming method to be replaced with newer tech- niques to improve productivity and the overall pros- USAID LESTARI cooperates with Bank Indonesia perity of farmers. (BI) Central Kalimantan Branch Office, PT Insan Bonafide (Crump-rubber Group), and CV Mitra Si- The introduction to good agricultural practices direpo to try to make rubber the primary com- is especially noteworthy. The concept guides the modity of Central Kalimantan. According to the whole process of farming including land clearing, consultant of Small and Medium Scale Enterpri- harvesting, fertilizing, and sanitation. The applica- ses Development of Bank Indonesia Central Ka- tion of P3S may also help prevent land and fo- limantan Office, Andarias Pagalla, rubber is the se- rest fires. Simply put, P3S can kill two birds with cond biggest commodity of the province after palm one stone. oil. Its success has been proven in new community plan-

Photo: (from left to right) 1. Rubber processing factory in Central Kalimantan 2. Rubber are processed directly in factory located close to the community rubber plantation.

2 USAID LESTARI: STORY FROM THE FIELD Photo: (from left to right) 1. Environmentally friendly rubber tapping practices based on good agriculture practices. 2. Rubber drying at Bokar Bersih KUBK Berkat Jaya, Buntoi Village, Pulang Pisau, Kalimantan Tengah

tations in transmigration villages. When P3S is ap- include revitalizing KUBK in Buntoi, Gohong and plied, rubber produce more and better . Mentaren I Villages. USAID LESTARI and partners have also socialized the establishment of 9 new There are approximately 443 traditional rubber KUBKs in 8 different villages and introduced the farmers who are now working with USAID LES- application of GAP/P3S at the same time. TARI, Bank Indonesia Central Kalimantan Branch Office, governmental agencies, and private sectors. “Now, we are excited. We no longer have any in- So far, the outcomes are satisfactory. Production tention to replace rubber with . We ex- wise, the total large of rubber plantations have in- pect LESTARI to continue assist us in strengthening creased by 494 hectares. The land will then be deve- our capacity especially by linking us with factories loped for SMEs with the help of KUBK. to jack up selling price,” said Adriana, a member of KUBK.

Strengthening Cooperation among There will always be a way if all stakeholders are Stakeholders willing to work together. This is not a mere slogan but an explicit declaration of commitment to re- Sustainable land governance and economic prospe- claim the prominence of rubber in Central Kaliman- rity is parallel to two sides of a coin. An appro- tan. Nothing is difficult if everyone is committed priate land management will subsequently increa- to playing their roles accordingly. After all, every- se the value of rubber in the market. However, one is interdependent when it comes to sustaina- they are not everything we need for success; ble development. the commodity needs to be properly marketed. There is a rubber processing factory built by PT Insan Bonavide in Gohong Village. The factory was built to help farmers market their products by ensuring the products fulfill international rubber standard. The standardization guarantees the quali- ty of the products and cuts time needed to mar- ket them. Additionally, the company is not only re- sponsible for processing the latex, but also providing trainings to the farmers. Similar partnership has been made in 13 villages in Pulau Pisang with CV Mitra Sidirepo. The company helps farmers by supplying coagulants and other tools to improve productivity and quality. Several activities conducted between June to No- vember 2016 have yielded positive results. They

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