Surasna, the Woman who Drives the Climate Village Program

Surasna, 40, lives in Libukang village, Bajo district, Luwu regency. This woman is a member of the Harapan Jaya Cocoa Farmers Group. Since 2019, she has been active in saving group activities or VSLA (Village Savings and Loans Association) which is accompanied by the Cocoa Life Program supported by Mondelez Indonesia and Wahana Visi Indonesia. According to Surasna, since participating in various Cocoa Life program activities, she has received many benefits such as gaining knowledge about household economic management, saving money to buy fertilizers and pesticides, knowledge about children's rights, and others. Due to her activeness and concern for the environment, in 2020 Surasna was chosen to be one of the women participating in the training on Increasing Awareness of Forest Protection and Restoration and the Climate Village Program (Proklim). The community considers that Surasna has the capacity to communicate with them especially women in her village and has concern for the environment.

In 2021, Surasna again participated in environmental training with Re-mark-Asia, which was facilitated by the Cocoa Life Program. After attending the training, Surasna immediately conducted dissemination about Proklim to the VSLA group during the meeting and visited the community’s house. To date, 230 women from farming families in Libukang Village have received knowledge about forests and Proklim.

From the results of this socialization, the community of Waituwo hamlet, Libukang Village began to plant bamboo trees on the banks of the river to prevent landslides. They also started to take the initiative to submit a proposal to get fruit seeds (rambutan and mango) to the Luwu Regency Agriculture Service submitted by the Harapan Jaya Farmers Group. In addition, monthly mutual cooperation is activated in Libukang Village.

Several proposals to village and district governments were also submitted as a result of this socialization, including the ‘one house one fish pond’ program, the family medicinal plant program, and the use of household waste as compost.

Surasna is very interested in Proklim because many trees have been cut down in her village, so the weather is very hot. If the dry season comes, many plants die because the water content in the soil does not last long because the soil in Libukang Village is sandy.

As a Proklim facilitator, Surasna faces a number of challenges. One of them is the fear of misrepresenting the material to the public. She is also not completely sure that the residents will accept the counseling she provides. But in the end, she succeeded in overcoming this challenge, and even the village community started to apply the counseling she gave.

“I am very grateful for this Cocoa Life program. As a community member of Libukang Village, I really felt the benefits. In the future, I and my friends from the farmer groups will continue to strive to make our village a Proklim village,” she said.

Written by Munawarsyah Lukman, Community Development Coordinato, Cocoa Life Program, Wahana Visi Indonesia