Badui farming tradition yields bountiful harvests, ensuring food security

The indigenous Badui community in the interior of Lebak Regency, Banten, maintains a farming tradition that produces bountiful harvests of upland rice, ensuring the resilience of the community’s food security in the face of drought. “To this day, the food supply of the Badui community is secure,” said Jaro Oom, a traditional elder and head of Kanekes Village, Leuwidamar District, Lebak Regency, on Friday. The Badui people have food reserves stored in thousands of ‘leuit’, or traditional rice barns, used to store unhusked rice from their annual harvest. They harvest once a year and store the rice in these barns as a family food reserve, preventing food insecurity during prolonged dry seasons, natural disasters, or pest attacks. “Because of this, the Badui community has never experienced food insecurity or famine,” Jaro Oom stated. He explained that the community has enjoyed sustainable food sovereignty for generations thanks to the leuit system. It is estimated that there are 8,000 leuit serving a population of 13,309 people across 4,000 families. Santa, a 55-year-old Badui resident, said his personal leuit holds seven tonnes of unhusked rice accumulated over six years of harvests. He noted that the stored supply has not yet been needed for family consumption, as their daily rice needs are met through purchases and food aid from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). Head of the Lebak Regency Agriculture Office, Rahmat Yuniar, confirmed that the Badui community’s food reserves are relatively secure and that food insecurity has never occurred, supported by their tradition of storing an average of three tonnes of grain per barn. He expressed appreciation that the community maintains its food security by never selling its harvest.