Indonesia; Jakarta: urban agriculture as an alternative strategy to face the economic crisis

8/3/2019 Indonesia; Jakarta: urban agriculture as an alternative strategy to face the economic crisis

1/13

CITY CASE STUDY JAKARTA

453

JAKARTA: URBAN AGRICULTURE AS AN ALTERNATIVE

STRATEGY TO FACE THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

Ning Purnomohadi

1. Introduction

Metropolitan Jakarta houses almost 10 million people during the day and 8.5million people during the night. Jakarta, on the northeast coast of the island ofJava, is the capital of the Republic of Indonesia and the centre for national trade,industry and services, including agricultural development.

The climate in Jakarta is very humid and warm. The average annual temperature is270C and humidity is between 80 and 90%. The annual rainfall is approximately2000 mm, with highest rainfall in January and lowest in September. DaerahKhusus Ibukota (DKI) Jakarta (Special Capital City Region of Jakarta) coversabout 650 km2 and the average population density has reached 12,495 people/km2.The population grows at 2.4% per year. The land is relatively low and flat and liesbetween 0 and 50 m above sea level. The soils are alluvial and fertile (Darmayanti1994).

2. Urban agriculture in Jakarta

Most of the agricultural products consumed in Jakarta are imported from Bogo,Bekasi and Tangerang, the three satellite cities of Jakarta. However, what isproduced in Jakarta itself is difficult to bring into the city on account of congestionand time constraints. Predictions are that, because of the economic crisis, urbandwellers will eat more vegetables since they can no longer afford to buy meat, fishor eggs (findings, own socio-economic field survey for this paper in 1999).


2/13


454

Table 1: Food production, demand and production as percentage of demand in Jakarta

Crop Production Demand Percentage

(%)

Rice 13,467 1,083,405 1.2%

Vegetables 26,883 282,184 .5%Fruit 44,443 226,852 19.6%

Source: Urban agriculture municipal office of Jakarta 1999

Urban farming spread quickly as a result of the crisis. For example, in 1998hundreds of people swarmed without permission onto land near Pulo Mas horse-racing track to grow vegetables, and a cattle ranch owned by ex-president Suhartoon the hills overlooking Jakarta was invaded by some 300 farmers. The flyingpolice motorcycle patrols have failed to stop the land grabs and, in the end, theGovernor of Jakarta gave the citys poor the permission to use idle land to grow

food, urging them to obtain permission first instead of just grabbing it (AFP 1998).

2.1 Urban farmers

Urban farmers can be categorised into two large groups: landowners and (themajority) workers in urban agriculture. The latter group can work for a wage, rentthe land (paid directly, in cash or in-kind, or by production sharing), using freeaccessible public land.

Table 2: Total population of Jakarta and number of farmers

Total

populatio

n

Urban farmers

status

Total no.

farmers

Region

(district)

1997 Owners Workers 1997

Central Jakarta 931,400 - 727 727

North Jakarta 1,659,100 1,955 16,475 18,430

West Jakarta 2,307,100 1,566 23,916 25,482

South Jakarta 2,087,200 2,124 2,632 4,756

East Jakarta 2,538,800 2,088 48,751 50,839

DKI Jakarta 9,523,600 7,733 92,501 100,234

Source: Statistical Bureau 1997

Most workers in urban agriculture are male farmers, mainly from West and CentralJava. Only a few are originally from Jakarta (Betawi people). Very few of theworkers own land in their home village.


3/13


455


4/13


456


5/13


457

Often these workers lost their previous seasonal job in the fallout of the economiccrisis and are left with few resources. They try to find a job as a farm worker in thecity during planting or harvesting. A few try to obtain a permanent job in the city,

or join their relatives who already have permanent jobs in Jakarta. The villagemigrants usually come alone; they do not bring their families. Regularly, atintervals varying from two weeks to once a year, they return to their home village.

Urban agriculture provides workers, landowners and other people involved, with asmall but significant income. Though it is limited, the workers use their incomefrom urban agriculture (about Rp 10,000 to 15,0001 per day) to support families athome by sending money for daily expenses as well as expenses like school fees ortraditional ceremonies2.

Few women work in agriculture. Generally, men are engaged in urban agriculturethroughout the season, in land preparation, watering, planting, weeding andharvesting, while women usually work only twice during the season in urbanagriculture: during periods of planting and harvesting. As the work that women dois considered lighter, they are paid less. Women do tasks like selecting vegetablesand making bunches of vegetables.

Contracted workers are usually paid according to the type of work they do. Atypical example is:

Land clearing Rp 15,000 for women worker per dayRp 20,000 for men workers per day

Transplanting seedlings Rp 250,000/haApplying fertiliser Rp 60,000/haMaintenance weeding Rp 15,000/dayHarvesting Rp 80,000/600 kg

Migrants live together in very small crowded houses in areas which expanded intoslums all around the city. Some of the workers live on the farms, in very small

huts. The municipality has not been able to provide housing for the migrants.


6/13


458

3. Use of urban areas

More than 11,000 ha of land are used for urban agriculture in Jakarta. The land canbe classified into various types:

vacant land: property of bankrupt or collapsed developers (e.g. KelapaGading Industrial Estate) and part of the municipal greenbelt areas (e.g.Pulomas and ex Kemayoran Airport area);

riversides and roadsides: belonging to Public Works, which co-ordinates floodcanals (e.g. Banjir Kanal near Hotel Indonesia, along Jalan Inspeksi DukuhAtas and the roadsides at Mutiara Film Settlement);

homegardens;

others: many smaller areas used by the small-scale producers, such as the

BPKP Office garden in Jalan Pramuka, next to Salembas jail, etc.

Land tenure in Jakarta is not very secure, although generally urban agriculture isnot repressed there. However, 90% of the land used for urban agriculture is ownedby real-estate developers or by the central or local government. This means that theland, once the economy picks up again, might easily become a construction siteagain. At the moment, however, urban agriculture obviously plays a positive rolein making urban wasteland productive and turning waste dumps into green areas.

Table 3: Agricultural land use in DKI JakartaPaddy field (ha) Dryland (ha)Region

High-

input

Modera

te-

inputs

Low-

input

Drysawa

Total Home

garden

Vegetable

planta-

tions

Other Total

Total

wetland

&

dryland

Central - - - - - 46 23 23 92 92

North - 1150 125 5 1280 1193 185 551 1929 3209

West 80 140 20 100 340 1302 166 275 1743 2083

South - - - 14 14 1635 486 80 2201 2215

East 660 - 230 225 1115 1331 1162 20 2513 3628

DKI

Jakarta 740 1290 375 344 2.749 5507 2022 949 8477 11,226Source: Statistical Bureau 1998

People engage in urban farming to survive. Often the farmers are in debt to themiddlemen who sell their produce; this gives the workers very little scope tobargain for better prices. The production systems are usually very intensive and


7/13


459

often chemical fertiliser and pesticides are applied. Farmers take water frompolluted rivers and at times apply fertilisers improperly and use banned pesticides.

Farmers grow a variety of crops, dependent on the soil conditions. Most crops havea short growth cycle (about 30 days). Favourite leafy vegetables are morning glory(Ipomoea aquatica - locally known as kangkung), spinach, lettuce, green mustard,basil and cassava. In the past three years, yields significantly improved, especiallyin the case of spinach and morning glory.Ornamental plants are also grown, particularly in the Mutiara Film Complex, aswell as in many other strategic locations, such as along roadsides.

Table 4: Utilisation of vacant lands in August 1999 in Jakarta

Area

(ha)

Land in

use (ha)

Cultivated crops Produce

(tons)

Labour

(person)CentralJakarta

60 29 Chilly pepper, spinach, morning glory,lettuce, caisim, tomatoes, maize, cassava,sweet potatoes

4 340

NorthJakarta

1168 671 Vegetables, chilly pepper, morning glory,chinese cabbage, paddy, spinach,tomatoes, melon, lettuce

11 2600

WestJakarta

748 445 Spinach, morning glory, groundnuts,maize, lettuce, stringbean, Luffaacutangula, chinese cabbage, caisim,eggplant

3203 3781

SouthJakarta

417 110 Maize, cassava, eggplant, lettuce, chinesecabbage, morning glory, groundnuts,jasmine,Ixora rosea, chillies, stringbean,cucumber

395 343

EastJakarta

326 277 Vegetables, groundnuts, cassava, spinach 2148 1420

Source: field survey Ning Purnomohadi

Crops are marketed mainly by middlemen, who come directly to the farm to buythe produce. Often farmers can sell only to one or two middlemen, because theyare tied to them due to debts incurred, resulting in very low prices for the farmers.Some produce is sold directly to nearby markets, or sold directly by the producersby street vending in the neighbourhoods. Some restaurants also buy directly fromfarmers. Usually, this is cheaper for restaurants and the produce is fresher than ifthey would buy from stalls or supermarkets. A good example of this is in theKelapa Gading area, where many Chinese restaurants are located.


8/13


460

4. Selected examples of ongoing urban agriculture

4.1 Pulo Mas residential area

Pulo Mas in East Jakarta consists of middle- to high-class residential areas.Located behind a well-known business area are squatter settlements in Pulo Asemand in the Velodrome area. Here, a greenbelt of 25 ha is located. The area isproperty of the Municipality of Jakarta. Recently, the area was reduced in size, butit still functions as a water-retention area for the eastern part of Jakarta. The samepiece of land is also used for other activities, such as football, a horse-racingstadium, some urban forest and agriculture. On the western side of the stadium,luxurious apartments are built.

Of these 25 ha, an area of 2 ha is used for agriculture. The land is controlled bytwo big bosses who hire about 30 farm workers. In return, they keep the stadiumclean. Each worker receives about Rp 10,000/day, not including harvesting fees.The boss takes care of the marketing, the produce being mostly sold directly toconsumers. Most workers come from West Java. Some come from Central Java,which is further away, but still close enough for daily commuting.

The land is used for intensive vegetable production. Vegetables like spinach,lettuce, green leafy sawi (Brassica rugosa) or Chinese cabbage, morning gloryandcabbage are sown and all crops are harvested in 25-30 days. Production takes placeon small raised beds or garitof 10 m x 60 cm in size. The beds are designed so thatthey are easy to maintain and can be watered with a water container in onemovement, back and forth. Small containers called gembor are placed in eachhand, each being able to water two garits at a time. The plots near the Sunter Riverare irrigated three times per day with water taken directly from the river. The plotsfurther away are watered from a retention basin or pumped from wells. Theretention basins are placed in the middle of the land in between the garits.

Ten days before seedlings are planted, organic fertilisers and water is applied and

mixed with the soil. During the growing period, chemical fertilisers (urea and TSP)are applied. Pesticides are used to protect the plants.

4.2 PT Gading Kirana Company site

PT Gading Kirana is a real-estate developer but, because of the Asian financialmeltdown, the land lies wasted. The company then decided to lease the 2000 m2 to


9/13


461

farmers for Rp 20,000/month/plot. The money is collected by the companyssecurity staff. The farmers have a contract allowing them to carry out agriculturalactivities and obliging them to maintain the fence.

4.3 Indonesian Navy industrial area Kodamar

A 25 ha compound in Kodamar, owned by the Indonesian Navy, is used as a paddyfield. The Navy Co-operative Office (Inkopal and Primkopal) hires farmers towork the land and the farmers receive monthly wages. The farmers, who originallycome from Inderamayu, Karawang, Cirebon and Central Java, were already paddyfarmers, and now work here on a seasonal basis. There are, however, plans todevelop this vacant land in the near future, to construct houses for navypersonnel. About 100 farmers are hired for planting, fewer people during the

growing season, and 20 workers to harvest the crop. A high-yielding variety ofpaddy (IR 64) is grown twice a year, and the total annual harvest is between 150and 300 tons.

4.4 Urban agriculture along roadsides

About two ha of vacant land on green "islands" between three streets have beenplanted with vegetables, along Jalan Pramuka, Jalan Pemuda, and Jalan AhmadYani. Three years ago, a local youth association, Forum Komunikasi Putra Putri

ABRI Indonesia (FKPPI) decided to start practising agriculture. About 25 farmworkers now work under one boss. They live in small, very simple, cottagesaround the land and receive Rp 10,000/day plus a bonus during harvesting,dependent on their harvesting skills. The produce is sold directly to consumers. Inthe past, these areas were just used as a waste dump, but now the area has taken onan attractive green appearance, not to be missed when driving on the freeway thatcrosses above the area.

4.5 Urban agriculture along canals and riversides

Urban agriculture is also found on the riverbanks in front of the Shangri-La Hotel,the BNI buildings and also behind Hotel Indonesia. In between the fields are manystalls selling foods and other daily necessities. Usually, the farmers cultivate onlytwo or three kinds of plants, like leek, morning glory and green sawi. There is greatpotential to further develop urban agriculture on riverbanks such as along the floodcanal kali Malang (a branch of the river Ciliwung), which is presently home toillegal semi-permanent houses and, in some places, street prostitution.


10/13


462

4.6 Kelurahan Sukapura

Kelurahan Sukapura lies close ton the coast. In this area, there are two largefarming enterprises which grow only one crop: morning glory. The reason for thisis that the land is swampy, permitting few options besides morning glory. The sitesare in the middle of an industrial area next to many industries, but also near largeand very densely populated squatter settlements.

One site of 10 ha is rented by a Madurese, who hires 30 skilled workers fromIndramayu. The farm is organised as an efficient production system. Water isdrawn from the Cakung drain. To protect the crop, pesticides and herbicides areapplied. The morning glory production is marketed throughout DKI Jakarta.Usually, middlemen are very willing to come directly to the farm.

The other site of 15 ha is located behind container warehouses, along the Cakungdrain. The land is owned by a developer, who rents his land out for Rp20,000/ha/month to individual farmers, mostly people from Jakarta. For marketing,these farmers very much depend on middlemen, because only they are willing tocome directly to the farm. Prices are thus determined by the middlemen. Thefarmers receive Rp 600 per bunch of morning glory while, in other places, theprices can be five times higher (up to Rp 3,000/bunch). The water used is drawnfrom the Sunter River.

5. Policy perspective on urban agriculture

The widespread nature of urban agriculture in the last two years, which hasdeveloped in response to the economic crisis, is seen as a temporary phenomenon.Urban agriculture has still not been included in the urban Master Plan of the city.Neither is urban agriculture included in the existing policy on Urban Green OpenSpaces (UGOS).

On account of the latest economic crisis, more and more vacant land (or LahanTidur) is being used for farming. The municipality, realising the need for cheapand healthy food for the urban poor, issued the Governors Decree No. 184,entitled Private Owned Vacant Land Used for Urban Agriculture Practices in DKIJakarta Area on March 9th, 1998. This stipulates that the landowners and theurban farmers should sign a formal contract to avoid illegal practices. The localgovernment provided a list of landowners who, for the time being, are not able to


11/13


463

develop their land according to their plans. In these cases, the landowners willinglylend out their vacant land to farming purposes.

There are a number of laws potentially affecting urban agriculture, but none of thelaws specifically refer to it. One example is Law No. 7/1996, which states thatsufficient food, both in quality and quantity, should be available for all householdsat all times. The law envisions a role for municipal government and the urbancommunity in providing food. The municipal government should enhance foodsecurity through a sound food management system, through training, control andso on.

Another example is the "greening programme", which started in the early 1990s.Jakarta planned to have at least 25-30% of the UGOS improved, in order to obtain

a balanced environment. However, the development of UGOS was given lastpriority, and has practically resulted in neglect. For the time being, the greening ofJakarta has not even improved by 10%. The One Million Trees Campaignlaunched in 1993 has slowed down. Because of the economic crisis, the budget forcity park maintenance and rehabilitation has been drastically cut. When the centralgovernment initiated the ADIPURA3 award programme, the development of urbanagriculture was not encouraged as part of the urban green open space system. Itwas argued that urban agricultural produce is contaminated because of airpollution.

It seems, therefore, that Jakarta Municipality sees a role for urban agriculture in theshort term in order to overcome the impacts of the Asian economic crisis, but doesnot regard it as a tool to contribute structurally to urban development.

6. Opportunities for urban agriculture

The Asian crisis created opportunities for urban agriculture, as the people in citiesare in need of new solutions for overcoming their problems. From the activities of

the people of Jakarta, it appears that urban agriculture offers some solutions.

The increasing (economic) importance of urban agriculture should facilitate itsinclusion in city planning and the specification of agricultural areas in urbanzoning. Urban agriculture should be treated as an integral part of the urbanecosystem. With sufficient appropriate space, it will be easier for urban dwellers togenerate alternative income through farming or home gardening.


12/13


464

The role of the local government in expanding urban agriculture could be great,through focusing on production, marketing and consumer aspects, as describedbelow:

production aspects:the provision of basic technical information and scientificdata for urban agricultural development for all stakeholders could range from aset of reliable updated city maps to practical guidelines, standard operatingprocedures for urban agriculture, training, demonstration plots, etc. This isespecially important to avoid pollution through urban farming. Vacant lotscould be used much more, in addition to intensive techniques for small spaces,such as container-based farming and hydroponics (Wade 1986);

marketing aspects: the government needs to reorganise distribution systems,and provide facilities for markets and marketing information. The localgovernment could also facilitate co-operative marketing systems to avoid

exploitation of farmers by middlemen; consumer aspects: the government has a responsibility to avoid contamination

of food.A land suitability classification system could be made tin order o avoidcontamination of crops by soil, water and air pollution. Another consideration isthe promotion of food diversity.

Possible constraints for the implementation of urban agricultural programs are:

better economic options from farmers in other jobs;

continued land title insecurity, which could keep farmers from investing or

continuing because of insecure prospects; and limited knowledge, including knowledge on marketing systems.

1 Rupiah (Rp) 7500 = 1 US$2 This income can be compared to other salaries: non-skilled construction workers earn

around Rp 8,000 10,000/day, skilled workers between Rp 20,000 30,000/day, maids andservants earn cash between Rp 150,000 200,000 / month, but usually also have board &lodging and small medical expenses included. Lower class government salaries run betweenRp 750,000 500,000 / month.

3 The ADIPURA award programme is co-ordinated by the State Ministry of Environment toaward the greenest and cleanest city of Indonesia.


13/13


465

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 1998. Information from 6 August 1998 found

on www.city farmer.org/jakarta.html#jakarta.

Darmayanti, Erwina. 1994. Integrating informal city farming practices intogreen open space management: a study of the case of Jakarta, Indonesia.Masters thesis, York University, Canada.

Kartawinata, Kuswata. 1992. Kota sebagai ekosistem. Presentation atMakalah utama pada Seminar Sehari Ekologi Perkotaan, dalam rangka,Dies Natalis Universitas Tarumanegara ke XXX, Jakarta, July 1992.

Purnomohadi, Ning. 1996. Strategy for urban agriculture in Indonesiancities: a challenge? Paper prepared for Program Design Workshop onUrban Agriculture, Economic Development Institute, World Bank,Washington DC, June 1996.

UA Municipal Office. 1999. Propinsi dalam angka, sub sektor pertanian,Tahun 1993-1997. Pemerintah Daerah Khusus Ibukota (DKI) Jakarta.Jakarta: UA Municipal Office.

Wade, Isabel. 1986. City food, crop selection in Third World cities. SanFrancisco: Urban Resources System, Inc.

Indonesia; Jakarta: urban agriculture as an alternative strategy to face the economic crisis

Documents

Transcript of Indonesia; Jakarta: urban agriculture as an alternative strategy to face the economic crisis