Maria Loretha and Dicky Senda in East Nusa Tenggara, Charles Totto in Papua, and Modesta Wisa in West Kalimantan, are Indonesian young leaders, that has initiated local food rescue to overcome the socio-ecological crisis.

They shared stories of their struggles in the “CangKir KoPPI” stands for “Berbincang dan Berpikir Kreatif Kelompok Perempuan dan Pemuda Inspiratif” (Inspirational Youth and women group Conversation and Creative Thinking), discussion series. The Samdhana Insitute supported by the Ford Foundation and The Directorate General Regional Development, Ministry of Home Affairs held this inspiring webinar on Monday, November 23rd 2020, moderated by Paramita Iswari.

Maria Loretha shared tough struggle in collecting Flores local seeds such as Sorgum, Barley, Black Rice and foxtail millet since 2007. She distributed the seeds to local farmers to be replanted in order to save the local crops.

Dicky and The Lakoat.Kujawas shared extraordinary stories, exploring and actualizing local food, while introducing them through literacy, cultural, and ecotourism activities.

Modesta Wisa is one of the pioneers, known for the establishment of Samabue Traditional School (SAS), which initiated “the return to home” movement towards food security and sovereignty in Menjalin, West Kalimantan.

Charles Toto took the audience on a journey back in 1997, when he had the opportunity to help a travel agent to transporting and accompanying tourist that were interested in getting back to nature, exploring the culture, including research purposes.   

The opening remarks of this webinar given by The Director General of Regional Development from Ministry of Home Affairs Dr. Hari Nur Cahya Murni, conveyed that “food is the most vital basic human need. The central government and regional governments are also responsible for the availability and the development of local food production in the regions. Local governments are also obliged to diversify consumption”.

Deputy Executive Director of Samdhana Institute Dr. Martua T. Sirait, in the opening of the webinar, mentioned that “indigenous area is repository of knowledge and food storage to deal with the social and ecological crises. Therefore, the enthusiasm and stories from the youth who initiated the promotion of local food are the lessons needs to be shared with others”.

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