Some large-scale food development projects (food estates) have been running since 2019 until now. One of them is in Ria Ria Village, Pollung District, Humbang Hasundutan, North Sumatra. Horticultural crops began to be planted in this village, such as shallots, garlic and potatoes. In total, the government has planned a food estate in North Sumatra of around 61,042 hectares. The area of the food estate covers four districts, namely, Humbang Hasundutan 23,000 hectares, West Pakpak (8,329 hectares), Central Tapanuli (12,655 hectares) and North Tapanuli 16,833 hectares. Jokowi, when he visited the land in 2019, said that North Sumatra would become a food estate development area after Central Kalimantan. Of course, this has drawn a lot of criticism from various circles.
One of them is Roganda Simanjuntak, from the Tano Batak Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN). He said that the status of customary land in Ria Ria Village has no protection from the government. However, when opening the food estate land, the government promised to provide land certificates to the indigenous people in Ria-Ria village. Roganda's fear is that the certificate given could be a way for customary lands to be released to the company. Roganda is worried that this food estate could cause the cultural values of the Ria-Ria people to be eroded or even lost. This is because the residents of Ria Ria village have a culture of andaliman farming and frankincense is not a horticultural crop. This is what will cause farmers to stutter. Not used to planting horticulture types and takes a long time to learn.
Of course, this program does not implement inclusive policies, policies that are in line with community needs. This is a distorted logic, where in fact to this day, andaliman and incense have high economic value on the market. Avena Matondang, an anthropologist in North Sumatra, said that the government's food barn project is just a red carpet for corporations or investors to take control of traditional land in Humbahas. This program does not look at various sides, for example, traditional structures. Food estates on customary land will change the agrarian-based culture of the Dalihan Na Tolu community into economic interests such as buying and selling land.
Not only do they have economic value, but andaliman and incense also have cultural value. Frankincense is used as incense or aroma to carry out rituals to heal the sick. When they want to harvest frankincense, farmers will sing poetry or prayer requests so that the results obtained are satisfactory. Likewise, andaliman is one of the typical Toba Batak food spices which is often used as a dish at Batak traditional ceremonies. Avena also explained that the government should make policies that suit the needs and cultural values of the community. Indigenous communities must be involved in every policy on their traditional lands. The government must also recognize customary land as well as its traditional accessories, namely culture and land.
Instead of being lucky, it's actually a loss
Lumban Gaol, a farmer in Ria-Ria village, said that on this food estate land, farmers receive education about the various products that will be planted. However, before it became a food estate, farmers in this village lived off coffee, rice, frankincense and andaliman. The source of income is much greater than farming or 'working' in a food estate. Just imagine, the price of andaliman is IDR 100,000 per kilogram. In one harvest, they can produce 60 kg of andaliman, so that in a month farmers can make a profit of around IDR 6,000,000 just from andaliman. Now, the land containing coffee to andaliman has become a 'food estate'.
Not only Lumban Gaol, this loss was also felt by other farmers, namely, Ingot Manalu. He told how difficult it was to farm on food estate land, and experienced losses due to crop failure. Of the 31 hectares of land managed, all garlic plants failed to harvest, while shallots and potatoes only managed 50%. Initially, said Ingot, planting in the food estate went smoothly but did not last long. During the initial planting period, farmers receive 200 kg of seeds per hectare, then 750 kg of fertilizer per hectare, and three motorbikes to manage the land. However, he said, they failed to harvest because the government seemed to be in a hurry and did not understand the soil and climate conditions.
Cultivating land that was originally hard soil – previously containing hard plants – must first be plowed until the soil is loose. Then, leave it for three months. Also, land that has been plowed and left for three months must be given dolomite – lime which contains calcium and magnesium which can fertilize the soil – then plowed again and left again for three months. So it takes six months for the land you want to cultivate to become good.
However, at that time, the government forced the land to be cultivated for 3 months, so it did not comply with farmers' usual planting patterns. "Here the soil is hard, there are lots of hard roots, the plants won't grow," said Ingot. Farmers also have to fight extreme weather in Humbahas. Rainfall is very high between September and December. However, this type of root crop is not good if it is continuously exposed to water. "So if you say it's successful, for me, it's not even a return on investment."
Entering the second planting period, said Ingot, the Ministry of Agriculture which previously managed it was withdrawn and taken over by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment in collaboration with the regional government. At this time, companies began to enter as offtakers. Simply put, those who manage this food estate are companies and farmers. Regarding how farmers collaborate with companies, the one overseeing it is the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.
Since then, all the initial capital for planting until harvest comes from farmers. The method is that the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries collaborates with several banks to make it easy for farmers to borrow money for initial capital. “Many people also have to work on this land. Who can do it alone or just a few people? "So people have to be called and paid to help manage these plants," he said. Now, if calculated, Ingot has a debt of forty million that must be paid.
Ingots are also owed to the offtaker for using seeds. The seed is not assistance but a loan. Payment is made when the harvest arrives. The price for seeds is IDR 160,000 per 50 kilograms. If he calculated it, he had already lost three million for the seeds alone. In fact, the plants all failed. “Debts are increasing, over time farmers only work to pay off debts. Because if we don't pay, this land will be confiscated."
Again, a policy that is not inclusive
Walhi North Sumatra together with the Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI) North Sumatra, conducted research on food estate land. As a result, from the start the food security program experienced many failures and imbalances. Not only from the harvest which is felt directly by the community, but also from cooperation schemes, systems and openness regarding the total area of the food estate area. The central government has never openly opened up about this project. Walhi and SPI found that there were also many conflicts after this food estate was established.
Starting from land ownership, especially in Ria-Ria Village. Land certificates from the government to the community at that time were only sweeteners so that indigenous people would hand over land and contribute to this food estate. This research also found that there were environmental impacts from this project, such as loss of water sources due to forest and land clearing. The reason is that land clearing in food estate areas deforests forest areas such as in Parsingguran I Village and the Science Park and Herbal Park (TSTH).
FIAN Indonesia's research also identified that the main problem of North Sumatra's food estate is that the concrete and specific conditions of local food agriculture are neglected in the food agriculture development mechanism. This is associated with top-down and fast-paced project implementation. The specific conditions in question relate to historical, cultural, socio-economic and environmental aspects. Residents do not easily switch from gardening or forestry which they have been working on from generation to generation to food estate farming.
“The farmers in this village and I have land for coffee, rice, frankincense and andaliman. "I can't live from here because of natural challenges, agricultural models and new commodities," concluded Lumban Gaol.
*some reference data taken from the results of my coverage in 2022 which was published on mongabay.co.id
