An article by Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post.

Cacao farmers in Jembrana regency have successfully paved their way toward sustainable agriculture, thanks to strong support from an NGO, the local administration and the private sector.

Since 2011, the Denpasar-based NGO Kalimajari Foundation and BWI (Business Watch Indonesia) have been helping the farmers start building a more sustainable agriculture system. The program, conducted with local cooperative Kerta Semaya Samaniya, seeks to help the farmers obtain certification for the commodity. This program involves 1,588 farmers from 22 subak (Balinese farming system) groups in four districts in Jembrana.

Agung Widiastuti, director of Kalimajari Foundation, explained that the program aimed to enable Indonesian cacao products to penetrate the global market, which requires sustainability aspects to be fulfilled.

“The cacao products from these farmers have been internationally certified. This is the first program in Indonesia that put a cooperative, Kerta Samaya Samaniya, as the certificate holder,” she said.

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