Pioneers of True Agrarian Reform: Increasing the Economic Sovereignty of Farmers in Garut

Farmers in Sagara Village, Sukamukti Village, Dangiang Village and Cipaganti Village are active members of the Pasundan Farmers Union in Garut Regency which focuses on the struggle for farmers' rights. Unfortunately, the potential of young cadres in leading the sustainability of farmers' struggles has not been explored due to their lack of knowledge and skills in managing agrarian resources. As a result, agrarian and environmental resources have not been managed properly.

Other challenges also arise, such as the condition of farmers' land which is prone to landslides, the less than optimal sale of agricultural products due to the lack of post-harvest processing mechanisms to increase the economic value of farmers' agricultural products, and the sale of harvests which are more profitable for middlemen.

To address this, SPP Garut with the support of Nusantara Fund Direct Funding encourages the implementation of human resource strengthening activities through the consolidation and capacity building program of True Agrarian Reform Pioneers. The goal is to encourage behavioral changes in pioneer cadres in villages who can move to become drivers at the local level, increase the commitment and involvement of young cadres and as a forum for leadership schools in villages.

This activity began with consolidation and training in participatory mapping to map potential and problems in the village, which then became a reference material for implementing the agrarian reform pioneer program. Through this activity, SPP members were able to identify unique problems in the economic, social, and environmental fields of each of Sagara Village, Sukamukti Village, Dangiang Village and Cipaganti Village and form young pioneers at the local level. In addition, product marketing technology training and organizational management were also carried out to strengthen the capacity of young pioneers in dealing with agrarian problems in the region. 

The True Agrarian Reform Pioneer Program has involved 23 Pasundan Farmers Union cadres and 2 Pioneers and 8 local activists in each of Sagara Village, Sukamukti Village, Dangiang Village and Cipaganti Village. Each village is assisted by OTL (Local Farmers Organization) administrators and Village Government officials.

The impact is that the pioneers of agrarian reform, dominated by young cadres, have increased capacity regarding tasks, functions and targets as pioneers through active involvement in a series of educational and training activities on organizational management and economic management in each village. Consolidation between young cadres and the management of the Pasundan Farmers Union, Garut Regency is also getting stronger. In addition, union members have also succeeded in mapping unique problems in their respective areas and have succeeded in creating a new marketing scheme for union members' production results through online product marketing.