PPAB Blitar: Maintaining Ecosystem and Economic Resilience Through Integrated Agriculture

Paguyuban Petani Aryo Blitar (PPAB) is a farmer community in Sumberurip Village, Blitar, East Java, which has been established for more than two decades. Formed amidst the urge to address agrarian injustice in their area, PPAB is committed to land redistribution efforts and sustainable resource management to ensure the lives of its member farmers.

PPAB has successfully secured land rights for its member farming community covering an area of ​​238 hectares. The land is a source of livelihood for more than 200 heads of families. PPAB then identified the need to optimize land use so that the community's economic independence can continue to be maintained by developing an integrated goat farming program with coffee and nutmeg cultivation.

The program run by PPAB with support from the Nusantara Fund Direct Funding, adopts an integrated farming model. Integrated farming combines goat farming with coffee & nutmeg planting. In the initial stage, PPAB focused its activities on developing goat farming as an alternative source of income for the community.

Some funds were used to build a collective breeding pen. The 5x15 meter pen can accommodate up to 25 superior Senduro and Kaligesing goats that have been purchased. In addition, they also built a demonstration plot for processing organic goat manure fertilizer and a feed bank, to ensure the availability of goat feed throughout the year, especially during the dry season. The members are involved in raising goats and contribute to the provision of feed through a feed bank that was specifically established to support livestock farming. 

PPAB also planted thousands of Robusta and nutmeg coffee seedlings to be planted on collective land. Goat manure processed into organic fertilizer will be used to fertilize this land. There are 4.000 Robusta and Arabica coffee seedlings, as well as 1.000 nutmeg tree seedlings as shade plants for coffee. The use of nutmeg trees as shade from excessive direct sunlight, maintaining soil temperature and humidity creates microclimate conditions, ideal for coffee and other plants. The community will also get additional results from nutmeg fruit and leaves that can be processed into valuable commodities. 

The combination of coffee with nutmeg trees as shade is another example of sustainable management implemented by PPAB. The integration of nutmeg and coffee trees creates a mini ecosystem that supports each other, allowing for more productive land use.

In addition, PPAB also pays great attention to community independence by strengthening the capacity of members through. They conduct training in cooperative management and the Credit Union Gerakan (CUG) bookkeeping system. The training includes financial management, bookkeeping, accounting, and preparation of transparent and accountable reports. With increased capacity, CUG members are expected to be able to manage collective funds better, distribute profits fairly, and maintain the sustainability of cooperative activities.

PPAB also applies an approach oriented towards community independence by providing training for members, in the field of cooperative management and the Credit Union Gerakan (CUG) bookkeeping system. In the long term, training will encourage members to manage collective funds more wisely, invest profits in projects that benefit the environment and society, and promote fair and efficient distribution of results. With training, it is hoped that members will have better abilities in managing joint funds, so that they can provide sustainable benefits for all members of the community.

In the future, they plan to create an efficient distribution channel by connecting farmers with consumers through cooperatives for marketing goat, coffee and nutmeg farm products. Overall, more than 400 people in the community, including PPAB members and the surrounding community, have benefited. The area of ​​intervention in the program reaches 283 hectares, covering coffee and nutmeg plantations and goat farming areas.