THE STORY OF YOHANA AND PUTRI

Yohana Fitriana Yanti is a 47-year-old housewife and female farmer from Mail Jampong village in Sintang district, West Kalimantan. She and Putri, her daughter, recently joined Pathways to Prosperity (P2P) project activities led by Solidaridad’s implementing partner, YPSDKK (Yayasan Pemberdayaan Sumber Daya Keling Kumang - Keling Kumang Resources Development Foundation). Yohana became a farmer because her parents were also farmers. She owns 4 hectares of land; she cultivates oil palm on 2 hectares and rice and seasonal vegetables on another 2 hectares, while her husband prefers maintaining the rubber estate. Her daughter also has a one-hectare estate. Yohana and Putri joined the P2P project to improve their skills and gain new experiences. “Hopefully, having additional skills will positively affect my livelihood and our household income,” Putri said.?

Yohana is an alumnus of Solidaridad’s farmers’ field school, where she learned a lot about good agricultural practices. She feels that becoming a farmer could secure food sustenance for her family. “I don’t have to buy rice and vegetables because I can use my estate’s produce. And oil palm provides me with extra income,” Yohana told us. But being a farmer is not flowers and rainbows. “It is rather exhausting having to battle with the heat, the rain, and the dust daily. Income is also unpredictable,” Yohana said. No wonder when she attended the socialization for the P2P project, Yohana looked forward to learning about ways to supplement her income.?

Besides being a farmer, Yohana is also interested in bead handcrafting because she loves beads products and accessories. Through vocational training conducted by YPDSKK, Yohana together with Putri, her 25-year-old daughter who comes home every fortnight from working in a company afar, gained specialized skills in crafting bead products. “Crafting bead products is a great activity during my spare time. I get to spend time with my daughter too. It has the potential to provide extra income for the household as well,” she said. Yohana and Putri are confident that things will get better once the market linkage is established.

Becoming a member of the P2P project made Yohana realize that before joining, she spent too much time on her gadget. “Now, whenever we have spare time, we always think about how to utilize it wisely and productively.” She and Putri also noticed that joining P2P benefits them rather significantly, “Economically, I could obtain extra income. Socially, I have a new circle of friends now. I also gain new knowledge. And talking about our environment, I have come to appreciate the products of nature more, especially nyelik batu, the materials for bead crafting. I am very motivated to actively preserve and cultivate it,” Putri expressed.? The P2P project provides the opportunity for new jobs and home-based business creations. However, to establish a home-based business, they said, they will need support for the procurement of materials and other necessary tools.?

“Yohana and Putri started from zero. They had no vocational skills. We trained them and worked closely with them to ensure they gained the necessary skills and knowledge,” Hera, from YPSDKK, said. “They are now accepting orders from other villages. We are assisting them in the sales and marketing of the products through various events such as the Keling Kumang Festival, and exhibitions at RATNAS INKUR and RATNAS INKOPDIT events. We will also display and promote their products during the Cooperative Day Exhibition in Pontianak in August,” she continued.

Yohana hopes that her daughter will soon be able to join the good agricultural practices classes conducted in their village. Even though her interest is high, Putri faces a challenge due to the distance from her current workplace. Yohana also hopes to get support for obtaining agricultural inputs. “I hope the youngsters have more interest in agriculture because income from this sector is actually promising. Especially when you apply sustainable farming practices,” Yohana said. “Young people should not feel embarrassed for choosing to be farmers. It is a noble profession, and we need young farmers now more than ever. Let’s keep up the spirit and be proud as young farmers,” Putri said at the end of the conversation.

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