FOOD SECURITY/ FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN VILLAGES

As a food security program officer I found a key to start food sovereignty in the villages. There are insurance for goods such as cars, buildings, and other valuables and even for our soul. But there is no insurance for the agricultural activities carried out by the villagers. Yet, they have always proven to get past all these high risk. They are the heroes of food security, but those who bear the greatest risk of hunger. Rural areas collectively are the provider of food for the world. We will practice self-sufficiency. At least 60% of our food needs can be met from the fields that we managed together then we can increase to be wider time to time until we reach food sufficiency fully.

We can manage our activity which is where we work on the management of crop & vegetables, livestock and the kitchen. When we are divided into different groups, we will we have diverse management of crop production and different schedule of planting and harvesting produce.  But we worked together, collecting all for everybody in our community. Through this type of  diverse management of the fields, if there was no harvest from one field because it was attacked by pests or other causes, we still had harvest from other fields. This cycle will show us how farmer's communityy are the most dependable group who manifest food sovereignty, even though there is no insurance for their farming activities.

For apply that practice above I found a key, that is iindependent learning.  In this one person could not depend on others to do things for them, but we lived together with a responsibility of interdependency. This was in the field, livestock, kitchen and many other activities will open our eyes about what in reality a community should be. We also should give thanks to God for the harvest every year by Harvest Thanksgiving Celebration.

As rural leaders in Indonesia, we can learn a very good way to lead our community, that is through servant leadership. We did not only watch movies and discuss about leaders and their movements in the world such as Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King but we also can learn how to apply it in our community. When we experience real servant leadership then all of those activities will change our minds as a grass root leaders. We can start from ourselves in our family or community. We can make our planning, managing and continue to increase our capability for serving rural people.

Salatiga, 25 Agustus 2015

Eunike Widhi Wardhani