The First Crop

Isabella Kapak (31) is a cadre actively involved in Posyandu activities in one of the villages in Asmat Regency. Familiarly called Mama Isabella, this mother of one diligently participates in cooking the Supplementary Food Provision (PMT) menu provided during Posyandu. In addition to diligently helping to cook, Mama Isabella is also diligent in gardening with her husband. However, Mama Isabella's garden is often constrained by weather until the harvest fails. 

"Well, in the past, it was challenging for us to get vegetables in December. When it's Christmas time, the water is usually high, and the garden sinks. We couldn't garden. It's hard to find vegetables," said Mama Isabella, picking kale vegetables ready for harvest from a different garden. The geographical condition of Asmat Regency, surrounded by swamps, is a challenge for gardening. Heavy rainfall often causes the water to overflow and the garden area to be submerged. Especially now, rain is often erratic. So that gardening activities on the ground are increasingly threatened by crop failure.

But now, Mama Isabella is gardening with the floating farm method. In the area where Mama Isabella lives, two groups of floating nutrition gardens are harvesting. Wahana Visi Indonesia, in partnership with 3M, initiated this activity so families in Asmat can enjoy vegetables every season. Mama Isabella and other fathers and mothers first attended training on nutrition gardens and floating farms. After that, they planted vegetable seeds. They waited a month until the kale vegetables they grew could be harvested. 

 "I'm happy about this. The soil is also good anyway, a partridge nest. This farm is also a good place. It doesn't sink. This nutrition garden is made high, so if we want to plant again after harvesting, we can. In the past, if we planted on land, we couldn't harvest. It sinks anyway," she said, "tomorrow we will just plant again so that next month we can harvest again," Mama Isabella went home with several bunches of kale vegetables to cook and eat with her family. 

Writer : Lamhot Simatupang (Education Officer for Asmat Area Program)

Editor : Mariana Kurniawati (Communication Executive)