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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
3
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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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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55
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.
9
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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7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: FOUNDATION FOR PARTNERSHIP WITH INDEPENDENT FARMERS, Indonesia
12/12
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