Good Food champions: how Ratna and the women of Sejahtera transform urban wastelands in Depok, Indonesia

Ratna Setiawati, a 67-year-old farmer from Depok, Indonesia — a city home to nearly 2.5 million residents — has embraced urban farming despite limited green spaces. In 2022, Rikolto launched a project in which Ratna and other women demonstrated that teamwork, creativity, and resilience can transform even the most unlikely spaces into flourishing gardens.

“I regularly relied on food banks in the region, like many other women,” Ratna recalls  “When we heard about the agricultural project, we discussed forming a farmers' organisation. Our enthusiasm grew, and within months, we were officially recognised as the women’s farmers’ organisation, Sejahtera.”

Urban farming is no easy task. Plots are significantly smaller than those in rural areas, requiring much improvisation and optimisation. Ratna and the Sejahtera women were allocated a former wasteland of 400 square metres next to the highway. Here, they cultivate various vegetables despite facing challenges with the less fertile urban soil.

“The biggest challenge is the soil itself. The plot was previously used as a landfill, leaving the land contaminated and less fertile. Our limited agricultural knowledge was initially a problem, but thanks to technical support and training from Rikolto and its partners, we are seeing improvements in our successful harvests.”

Another challenge is temperature. Urban environments are generally several degrees warmer than surrounding rural areas, forming so-called heat islands. Rapid urbanisation in Depok replaces green spaces with buildings that trap heat and block wind, raising temperatures and affecting urban agriculture.

To better understand heat island effects and better equip cities like Depok to combat climate change, Rikolto, with support from the Flemish government (Belgium), collaborates with the NGO Perkumpulan Indonesia Berseru and Bogor University. The results are promising. Transforming wastelands into vegetable gardens has already reduced the average temperature around these urban areas by 0.16°C. Vegetation on these grounds retains heat better, helping regulate urban temperatures.

Good Food for Cities

This initiative is necessary, as by 2045, over 70% of Indonesia's population — around 277 million people — will live in cities. Without a robust and resilient food system, it will be impossible to provide enough nutritious food for everyone in urban areas. As rural farmland disappears, cities will increasingly rely on food supplies from other regions.

Additionally, between 24 and 48 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in Indonesia. This is hugely detrimental to the climate and farmers' incomes. Addressing this loss directly can better protect food security in megacities like Depok.

Our approach starts with training farmers like Ratna. Rikolto and its partners have trained 156 urban farmers from 6 farming organisations, including Sejahtera, in various agricultural aspects. Seventy percent of these farmers are over 35, and 72% are women. On six ecological demonstration fields totalling 16,850 square kilometres, farmers learn sowing, maintenance, harvesting, and composting techniques.

“The training encouraged us not only to grow and sell vegetables but also to diversify our income. We now farm fish fed with larvae from our compost. We then use the composted organic waste to create fertiliser, which we use and sell to other farmers—a true circular model.”

Ratna sees additional opportunities through urban agriculture as the chair of PAUD (Early Childhood Education). She wants to transform her farm into an educational space where children can learn about food and agriculture.

“Children living in the city have little or no connection to where their food comes from. By inviting them, we can pass on our passion and knowledge to the next generation. It fosters greater respect and understanding of nature’s limits. When they appreciate the hard work, there will be less waste.”