Case Studies UNDP: FOUNDATION FOR PARTNERSHIP WITH INDEPENDENT FARMERS, Indonesia

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: FOUNDATION FOR PARTNERSHIP WITH INDEPENDENT FARMERS, Indonesia

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Indonesia

FOUNDATION FORPARTNERSHIP WITHINDEPENDENT FARMERS

Empowered live

Resilient nation

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence toThe Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years

the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran

Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Foundation or Partnership with Independent Farmers, and in particular

guidance and inputs o Vinsensius Nurak, and Syalomi Natalia, Communications Coordinator, Australia Indonesia Partnership

Decentralisation (AIPD). All photo credits courtesy o the Foundation or Partnership with Independent Farmers. Maps courtesy o C

World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Foundation or Partnership with Independent Farmers, Indonesia. Equator Initiative C

Study Series. New York, NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858


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PROJECT SUMMARYIn collaboration with 40 villages in the northern-centraldistrict o Timor, The Foundation or Partnership withIndependent Farmers aims to develop sustainableagricultural systems to increase productivity and providealternative sources o income, with the aim o helpingcommunities develop economic independence.

A sustainable agriculture and air marketing initiativeprovides a collective marketing option or local armers.By selling local goods together rather than independently,this collective marketing method allow villages to increase

their bargaining power and increase their revenues. Fruitand lumber trees have been planted to reestablish localbiodiversity and oer an alternative to deorestation.Average household incomes have increased by over 30 percent.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2010

FOUNDED: 1996

LOCATION: East Nusa Tenggara province

BENEFICIARIES: 40 villages in North Central Timor

BIODIVERSITY: Reintroduction of rare trees

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FOUNDATION FOR PARTNERSHIP WITHINDEPENDENT FARMERSIndonesia

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Biodiversity Impacts 7

Socioeconomic Impacts 7

Policy Impacts 8

Sustainability 10

Replication 11

Partners 11


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4

n 1996, a group o seven enthusiastic graduates rom an agricultural

ollege in Indonesia established the Foundation or Partnership with

ndependent Farmers (Yayasan Mitra Tani Mandiri, or YMTM) in the

egency o North Central Timor (Timor Tengah Utara), in East Nusa

enggara province. Their main objective was to develop sustainable

griculture, orestry and livestock systems in the regencys rural

ommunities, which in turn would increase productivity, provide

lternative sources o income and expand local capacity or economic

evelopment. Since then, more than 15,000 armers have benetted

rom training in sustainable soil and water conservation techniques

nd cultivation o annual, perennial and long-term crops. As a result,

,630 hectares o upland arms have shited rom slash-and-burn

ultivation to more sedentary and environmentally sustainableechniques. The oundation has also supported the planting o

.5 million ruit and timber trees, as well as legumes and estate

rops, helping to conserve local biodiversity by reintroducing once

lentiul species as sources o income generation or smallholders.

Evolving to meet local agricultural needs

imor Tengah Utara is located on the island o Timor in the

ndonesian archipelago. It lies between the South China Sea and

he Indian Ocean. The district is mountainous and semi-arid, with

verage rainall between 1,000 and 1,500 millimeters per annum.

ainall occurs 3-4 months in a year, and inter- and intra-seasonal

ariability is high. As a consequence o this variability, armers have aicult time sustaining ood supply throughout the year, with ood

hortages common in the late dry season and early in the ollowing

wet season (October to February).

n the mid-1990s, YMTMs ounding members conducted a survey

livelihoods and agriculture management in Timor Tengah Utara

istrict. The survey revealed that poverty was rampant. Agriculture

was the main occupation o the population and was practiced using

raditional shiting cultivation and slash-and-burn techniques

nvolving minimal agricultural inputs and technology. The practice

leads to soil and water degradation, causing gully and su

erosion, and results in substantially lower crop yields rom

to year. Concern or the environment and a desire to improve

quality o lie o the regencys villages drove the seven pionee

YMTM to voluntarily begin work in 1993, helping armers in T

Tengah Utara implement a Sustainable Agroorestry Sys

initiative, prioritizing the development o an integrated sustain

arming system that includes annual and perennial crops, long-

tree crops and livestock.

Expansion o program delivery through partner suppor

For three years the oundation worked with armers withoutexternal unding support. Only ater the establishment o YMT

a oundation in 1996 did they begin to receive unding, initially

World Neighbors Indonesia and the Indonesian country oce o

Dutch NGO Vredeseilanden. Support was provided rom 1997

covering ve villages and involving 297 households. Between

and 2006, urther support was provided by Catholic Relie Ser

and Caritas Australia to expand the working area to 22 vil

with 2,695 households. The Australian Government Overseas

Program (AusAID) began to support YMTM in 2007 to implemen

Development o Sustainable Farming Systems and Fair Marke

initiative in 40 villages involving more than 5,000 households, ai

to reduce poverty through collective marketing and to conserv

and water.

Vision, mission and operating principles

YMTMs vision is to empower armers in marginalized village

improve the welare o their communities; to encourage e

participation, decision-making and leadership between wo

and men; and to promote independent armer organizations

are built on environmentally sustainable development. To ach

this, the oundations working principles include strengthe

community and local institutions, managing natural resources

Background and Context


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ustainable way, developing viable local rural economies, catalyzing

multi-stakeholder networks, and providing education and training

pportunities or the community.

he initiative has been designed to benet the communities o

ighly marginalized villages. Most villagers in TTU district rely on

ubsistence arming. They have little interaction with the wider cash

conomy due to a lack o inrastructure. YMTM ocuses on increasing

ocal ood security, providing diverse orms o sustainable income,nd promoting the independence o armers organizations. YMTM

lso strives to infuence changes in local government policy to

etter accommodate the interests o armers. Because the program

eveloped by YMTM is ocused on sustainable agriculture, eorts

o increase local income adhere to an environmentally riendly

pproach. The agrosilvopastoral component o the initiative is a

rime example o maintaining biodiversity while reducing poverty.

he trees planted through the agroorestry program help achieve

conomic independence by providing ood security and timber or

ale. It also ocuses on reintroducing rare or endangered species,

uch as sandalwood, in an eort to conserve biodiversity.

Farmers groups and armers associations

YMTMs presence in a village requires the equal participation

nd leadership o women and men. Approximately 42 percent o

ctive participants (2,300 people) are women. These participant

armers are then empowered to continue the work o the initiative

ndependently by participating in training sessions that encompass

spectrum o activities in sustainable agriculture and air marketing.

pecic workshops increase leadership capacity within villages

y urther training existing leaders and creating new leadership

ositions within armers groups. To date, over 340 armers groups

ave been ormed, encompassing more than 5,300 households. As

2009, six o the 40 villages in Timor Tengah Utara in which YMTMad worked had become completely independent o the oundation,

with a urther eight in the process o phasing out support on their

way to autonomy.

With assistance rom the oundation, armers groups have

ollectively ormed armers associations. Currently, ve armers

ssociations exist across the 40 actively participating villages, and

ndeed have expanded independently o the oundation to include

round 20 villages not involved with YMTM. These associations have

een able to come together regularly as a orum, meeting with

religious, government and indigenous leaders. Dialogues betw

these groups have resulted in the strengthening o commu

institutions to conserve areas surrounding Mount Mutis, a histor

important landmark in the traditional local belie system.

These associations are supported by 49 sta members wo

or YMTM, consisting o 42 eld ocers and seven administr

ocers. The main duty o eld sta is to assist group mem

to improve agricultural husbandry, to conduct trainings monitoring o activities, and to help the armer groups manage

administration issues. One key to YMTMs success is the requirem

that eld sta reside ull-time in target villages. The success o

initiative and its potential or replication have resulted in requ

or the oundation to expand its work to other districts on the is

o Timor, as well as the neighboring nation o Timor Leste.

Indonesia must balance the exploitation of nature for economic development against th

development of nature itself; it must improve human capacity to care for our environment an

raise average rural incomes to allow for this.

Vinsensius Nurak, Foundation for Partnership with Independent Farmers


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6

Key Activities and Innovations

he main aims o the initiative encompass supporting alternative

velihoods, increased ood security, and environmental sustainability

n Timor Tengah Utara. Within this broad mandate, short-term

oals are specic to project interventions. For instance, YMTM

mplemented the Development o Sustainable Farming Systems

nd Fair Marketing project between 2007 and 2010, supported by

AusAID, which emphasized combating poverty through collective

marketing. During this time the initiative was able to increase the

nnual income o 5,246 households by 42 percent rom USD 487 to

USD 690, surpassing the project target o a 25 percent improvement.

mproving the productivity o crops largely accounted or this

ncrease in household income, while other activities such as cattleattening, vegetable cultivation and ood processing also contributed

o achieving this goal (see Table 1.) Farmers associations were

mpowered to independently manage the collective marketing o

attle, tamarind, candlenuts, peanuts and cashew nuts, resulting in

n increase in the prevailing price o these commodities by 5-10%.

Cultivation o tamarind, candlenuts, peanuts, cashews, and maize

between 2007 and 2010 totaled more than 600 tons, generating a

otal o USD 239,976 in sales. During the same period, over 1,265

attle were sold, with total sales o USD 578,050.

Methodologies

Participatory methods have been used to identiy and to s

collective problems. Tools used by the oundations project

with rural communities have included Participatory Rural Appr

(PRA), Goal Oriented Project Planning (GOPP), Strength, Weakne

Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) Analysis, and Participatory Pov

Analysis (PPA). The initiative encourages community participa

at every stage o their village-based interventions, beginning

project planning. During project cycles, communities are act

involved in implementation and democratic decision-ma

Communities undergo a regular process o refection on prog

the results o which are used to adjust and improve ongimplementation. Regular and intensive assistance by YMTM

sta is critical in building the necessary mutual trust with village

well as in gradually building local capacity to the point where vil

level groups are able to continue project activities independen

Table 1: Crop and livestock productivity and average household income

2007 2009 % Increase

Maize crop productivity 1.7 tons/ha 2.3 tons/ha 32%

Peanut crop productivity 0.94 tons/ha 1.22 tons/ha 29%

Cattle attening, daily gain 100-150 g/day 350400 g/day 200%

Average household income, annualIDR 4,387,000

(USD 487)

IDR 6,211,000

(USD 690)42%

ource: YMTM


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7

Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

The oundation has increased biological diversity in the vicinity

o the villages in which works through increasing the number o

ree species planted on arms. Thirty-three species o timber and

estate crops have been introduced or re-introduced as part o these

groorestry eorts, including teak, mahogany, gmelina arborea,

emingia, eucalyptus urophylla, and assorted local timber species.

rom 1998 to 2010, the oundation oversaw the planting o 6.5

million trees, resulting in the sequestration o an estimated 7,565

ons o carbon. Tree planting has also resulted in the improved

onservation o 13 natural springs, as well as providing a habitat or

beehives and birds. Table 2 shows the increase in the numbers orees planted and variety o species used over time; these numbers

do not include seasonal crops grown by armers such as vegetables,

ubers, legumes and cereals.

Among the species re-introduced were once-plentiul local species,

ncluding 13,380 individuals o a local variety o sandalwood,

nd 127,970 palm variety (Corypha gebanga) trees. This has been

upplemented by an increase in the number o vegetables cultivated,

with armers diversiying beyond cabbage and pumpkin to grow a

election o 19 vegetable species or consumption and sale.

Biodiversity impacts have been measured on a regular basis.

Participatory monitoring was conducted during cross-visits betweenneighboring armer groups. Group members counted the number

and species o trees and crops cultivated in home gardens. T

data were then submitted to the chairperson o each armer gr

beore being sent to the respective village armer union and col

by YMTM sta. One o the roles o the oundation was to veriy

data rom each village. This multi-level eld monitoring system

designed by the communities themselves with input rom o

NGOs, technical advisors and donors.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

Taking the 40 villages o Timor Tengah Utara in which YMTM w

together, the oundations activities have covered almost 600

o village land. All 5,246 o the armer beneciaries in 2010 indigenous Timorese living in marginalized rural areas. While

economic situation o these households has improved thanks t

work o YMTM, with average incomes increasing by 42% betw

2007 and 2009, more than 65 percent o the beneciaries were

living below the national poverty line o USD 2.00/day in 2010.

Tackling the causes and efects o poverty

Much o the work o the oundation has thereore ocused not on

increasing household incomes, but also on alleviating the symp

o persistent economic poverty by improving community wellb

and livelihood opportunities or member armers. To achieve

ormer objective, the initiative has successully revolutionized arming techniques by putting an end to shiting, slash-and-

Table 2: Number o trees planted and species used (1998-2010)

1998 2002 2007 2010

Number o tree species 12 23 33 33

Total number o trees 190,175 2,386,565 4,334,515 6,480,353

ource: YMTM


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cultivation, and instead supporting villagers to adopt sedentary

arming strategies. Over 2,630 hectares o upland armland is

currently under improved sustainable agricultural management.

The initiatives work has improved soil and water management

ystems by terracing hillside slopes with legume species such ascalliandra, leucaena and gliricidia, and practicing minimum tillage.

Legume trees planted along terrace borders stabilize the soil and

prevent gully and surace erosion. Biomass rom these tree legumess also ed to cattle and used in enriching the soils organic content.

The practice o using animal manure as an organic ertilizer to

ncrease crop productivity has also been promoted by YMTM sta.

The eects o this improved soil management are evident in the

ncrease in productivity o cultivated maize (a staple local crop)

between 2007 and 2009 o 32%, rom 1.7 to 2.3 tons per hectare.

mproving local wellbeing

Eorts under the secondary objective o alleviating the symptoms

o poverty have included empowering previously disenranchised

ectors o rural society, improving household ood security, and

delivering widespread savings, sanitation, health, and educationbenets to member communities.

Youth unemployment is one visible eect o low economic

development in the region. Out o a total o 15,362 youths living in

he target villages, 768 were engaged in the oundations work in

2010, 322 o them young women. With training and support rom

YMTM they were earning incomes rom vegetable cultivation, cattle

husbandry, growing timber, and ood processing. The initiative has

uccessully reduced the numbers o youths choosing to migrate to

urban areas or seeking migrant worker placements overseas.

Food security has increased in recent years, with ood availa

at the household level increasing rom 8 months to 11 mo

per year. Communal savings held by armers groups, meanw

increased rom USD 21 per household in 2007 to USD 31

household in 2010, helping to increase armers resilience to

harvests or environmental shocks. Revenues generated thro

YMTM-supported sustainable agricultural activities have been

to improve the welare o member communities. Incomes have

reinvested into home improvement, digging wells to improve acto clean water, and building toilets or better household sanitat

The initiative has also contributed to increased student enrollm

and vastly improved healthcare indicators, based on sample

taken rom selections o member villages. In 2007, 438 stud

were enrolled in high school in 40 villages, but by 2009 this

had almost trebled to 1,207. In ve villages sampled, meanw

the number o malnourished children was reduced by 82 per

rom 78 children to 14 children in just a two-year period, w

maternal mortality decreased by 96 percent, rom 23 wome

2007 to a single case in 2009. It is likely that these statistics ind

the eect o higher household incomes and savings, allo

arming households to send children to school and to aord bhealthcare services.

POLICY IMPACTS

The initiative has infuenced development policies and strategie

sustainable agriculture at the provincial, sub-regency, and vi

levels. At the provincial level, a drat regulation on sustain

agriculture was under consultation by 2010, largely as a result o

active participation o provincial ocials in armers meetings

six times a year. The YMTM initiative has gained high visibility w

East Nusa Tenggara province, leading to its use as a model or

development policy.

Participation in local development planning processes

This is refected at the sub-regency level, where decrees have

issued to promote adoption o YMTMs sustainable agricul

system by arming households. At the village level, meanwhile, a

target villages have produced ve-year development plans ino

by the oundations work. Thirty-one o these villages have prod

village regulations as the legal basis o village development, as

as village decrees inspired by YMTM community arm managem

activities. Evidence rom the case o Oenain village demonst

the impact o the oundations work in infuencing policy ma

at the village level. Prior to the development o a ve-year videvelopment plan, residents typically applied slash-and-

techniques in arming and allowed livestock to roam reely, resu

in land degradation and crop destruction. Having a developm

plan in place has enabled community members to map areas or

and livestock needs. Currently, armers in the village have appl

sedentary, integrated arming system using agroorestry techniq

In turn, this has been supported by the district government inve

in inrastructure improvements including a small dam and a roa

the arming area to improve access to markets.

8

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

2007 2008 2009 2010

Men Women

Source: YMTM

Fig. 1: Number o male and emale benefciaries (2007-2010)


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hese village communities have also had opportunities to contribute

o regional development planning. A total o 359 o the oundations

armer members have been elected to village cadres and as village

eaders across the regency. The strategic role o these cadres and

eadership roles is to represent community aspirations and needs in

he public dialogue, particularly during periodic multi-stakeholder

meetings that help to acilitate local policy-making and its

mplementation. YMTM has supported communities representation

t these dialogues, including regular armers meetings, which serve

s an opportunity or armers to articulate their supportive policy

eeds and prole their successes. During one armers meeting, theGovernor o East Nusa Tenggara province and the Head o Timor

engah Utara regency visited villages where YMTM is working.

ollowing these site visits to observe the success o the villages

ntensive cattle management and savings and loans groups, the

rovincial governor declared a policy ocusing on cattle production

nd cooperatives as two main ocuses o the provincial development

trategy.

Contributing YMTM expertise

The oundation has been actively involved in the design

implementation o Indonesias action plan on water

management, natural conservation and dryland arming as pa

the countrys Participatory Integrated Development in Rained A

(PIDRA) program, led by the National Department o Agricul

the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Internat

Fund or Agricultural Development (IFAD). The organization

also contributed to planning processes or Indonesias Nat

Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan, urther demonstra

its prole as an innovative pioneer in this eld. Changegovernment and bureaucratic personnel, however, have been n

as impediments to infuencing supportive policy processe

they can result in previously endorsed regulations suddenly b

ignored. Lack o knowledge and skills among local governm

sta has also acted as a barrier to the adoption o regulations; t

institutional obstacles have occasionally prevented YMTMs p

recommendations being implemented to the ullest extent.

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Table 3: Welare improvement o the community in housing and access to clean water

2007 2009 Improvement (%

Investments in house improvement* 1,887 3,395 80%

Well construction* 200 270 35%

Households with toilets** 68 215 216%

ource: YMTM. * Data collected in 40 villages **Data collected in 5 villages


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Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYAmong the challenges to sustainability conronting the initiative

re the threats posed by a changing climate. YMTM has taken steps

owards identiying these threats and incorporating strategies or

dapting to climate change into its sustainable agricultural model,

uilding on the adaptive techniques already adopted by member

ommunities.

Environmental resilience

A 2006 study conducted by the oundation and Timor Tengah Utara

egency government identied the impacts o climate change onhe area as well as villagers responses to these impacts. Compared

o a similar study in 1996, there were signicant decreases in water

ources, productivity o soil and aquatic biota, as well as signicant

ncreases in the likelihood o fooding and erosion.

n response to these ndings, collaborative eorts between YMTM

nd local communities were taken to mitigate these eects. These

ncluded an increased emphasis on deep-rooted ground cover by

lanting bamboo, elephant grass and other grasses to both increase

water absorption capabilities o the soil and reduce soil erosion.

Deep-rooted trees were planted around water sources due to their

bilities to draw groundwater towards the surace, stabilizing earth

arriers with their root systems and acting as windbreakers. This inurn has helped to stabilize the microclimate and maximize water

etention. Other eorts to reduce erosion and improve retention o

water sources have been implemented in the orm o dams. Not only

o these dams help to minimize food damage, they also help to

ecure long-term water sources or villagers and livestock. Cultivation

drought-resistant, income-generating plants such as carrots and

amarind has been promoted by YMTM sta, and villagers have been

ncouraged to plow letover organic matter rom each harvest back

nto the elds to promote carbon retention.

Rooted in local capacity

Since the early 1990s, the Foundation or Partnership

Independent Farmers has worked in 40 o Timor Tengah Ut177 villages. Several aspects o the oundations work helpe

ensure its success and rapid uptake, most notably its high de

o social sustainability. Emphasis on local leadership and tech

skills training has allowed the independent continuation o

oundations interventions by village members ater suppo

phased out. Because the initiative does not rely on the impo

use o expensive technological tools, instead prioritizing loc

appropriate solutions, its work does not pose nancial or cul

stress on villages.


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1111

Financial sustainability

he nancial sustainability o the initiative is seen to be dependent

n its ecological sustainability, and vice versa. At the centre

the initiatives success has been the linking o sustainable

arming practices with increasing local biodiversity and reducing

etrimental land use, all o which contributes to increased

armer incomes. Although external unding has allowed or the

xpansion o the initiative since 1996, the reason or its successul

ustainability ultimately stems rom the economic benets

ealized by member armers. Underpinning this improved income

eneration is the existence o armers group institutions that havencreased the capacity o armers to manage their arms, including

mproved micro-nance options through savings and loan groups.

Donors involved in the oundations work to date have included

he Australian Government Overseas Aid Program through the

ustralian Indonesia Partnership, Vredeseilanden Indonesia, and

World Neighbors. All donors have provided capacity building as well

s nancial and technical support, and have assisted in expanding

armer networks.

REPLICATION

nowledge sharing and exchange has taken place both within

MTMs expanding network o arming communities and externally,with other like-minded initiatives on the island o Timor. Ongoing

eer-to-peer learning takes place in the villages where YMTM

works, where armers share lessons learned and best practices with

ther armers and related stakeholders. Between 2007 and 2010,

MTM acilitated knowledge exchange through site visits or 206

epresentatives o government agencies, universities, and local and

nternational NGOs working in both Indonesia and Timor Leste.

Ongoing dissemination o best practices is conducted through a

umber o channels, including these direct site visits to the villages,

training seminars held in and outside o village sites, unive

seminars, and publication o posters, books, leafets and audiov

resources.

A transerable model or rural development

The success o the initiative has infuenced widespread replica

on the island o Timor. There are a number o communities

development organizations that are currently applying the YMmodel within Indonesia, including: Yayasan Tananua Sumb

Waingapu, East Sumba, Nusa Tenggara Timur province; DEL

Larantuka; World Neighbors; Lakmas Ngada; Yayasan An

Ana; the Indonesia Leprosy Transormation Foundation (Yay

Transormasi Lepra Indonesia); World Vision Indonesia; T

University; and Timor Tengah Utara Agriculture High School. In T

Leste, partnering organizations that have used the YMTM m

include: World Neighbors, Caritas Australia, Catholic Relie Serv

Oxam, and the Department o Agriculture o Timor Leste.

PARTNERS

The key players in the development o the initiative have b

community-based and local government stakeholders in T

Tengah Utara, the oundations sta, and a range o key do

including AusAID, VECO Indonesia, World Neighbors Indonesia,

Caritas Australia. Successul collaborations (or inormal partnersh

with a wide range o local partners has allowed the ounda

to garner widespread support within Timor Tengah Utara

trustworthy and reputable organization. Its ormal partnershi

those with external donors and development agencies have

contributed greatly to the overall success o the initiative, thro

the provision o nancial and technical support.

Its longest ormal partnership has been with World Neighbors, whas assisted YMTM since 1996 in developing sustainable agroor

systems in several mountainous regions in the regency usi

sedentary arming model. Over the last ten years, this partner

has surpassed its initial aims and has expanded to cover a wider

within Timor Tengah Utara.

Another ormal partnership is with the Australia-Nusa Teng

Assistance or Regional Autonomy (ANTARA) initiative o Aus

ANTARA has provided support or YMTMs work in sustain

agriculture and air marketing since 2007, beginning with an i

15 villages and expanding rapidly to cover 40 villages due t

visible success.

YMTM and Vredeseilanden Country Oce Indonesia (VE

Indonesia) have been working as partners since 1998. Origin

the partnership encompassed a variety o dierent projects,

has since narrowed its ocus to the development o peanut cr

VECO-Indonesia also connected the oundation with Catholic R

Services (CRS) in 2001. This partnership was an important br

between the initial work o the oundation and its more re

expansion, allowing the continued evolution o its sustain

agricultural model.


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Equator Initiative

Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Tel: +1 646 781-4023

www.equatorinitiative.org

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change and

necting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

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FURTHER REFERENCE

Yayasan Mitra Tani Mandiri Photo Story (Vimeo) https://vimeo.com/15746142

Video on Yayasan Mitra Tani Mandiri (YouTube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RH6oPka6U8
https://vimeo.com/15746142https://vimeo.com/15746142http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348161375.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348163487.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348150723.pdf

Documents

Case Studies UNDP: FOUNDATION FOR PARTNERSHIP WITH INDEPENDENT FARMERS, Indonesia