East Jakarta Government Selects Pilot Schools for Urban Farming Development
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The East Jakarta Municipal Government will select one school in each sub-district as a pilot location for the development of urban farming, in order to optimise the use of school land as a means of learning, food cultivation and fostering environmental awareness.
“We will also select flagship locations in each sub-district to serve as examples of the optimal use of school land. The programme will be promptly followed up with mentoring and extension services,” said the Head of the East Jakarta Food Security, Marine and Agriculture Sub-Department (KPKP), Taufik Yulianto, in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The selected schools will later become models for the optimal use of school land for agricultural, fisheries and post-harvest processing activities.
The programme forms part of the East Jakarta Municipal Government’s efforts, through the KPKP Sub-Department, to encourage the use of land in educational environments as productive spaces for students.
Taufik said his office had carried out an inventory of schools with the potential to be developed as urban farming locations.
According to Taufik, the inventory is needed to assess the potential and needs of each school before they are designated as pilot sites. Schools judged to have the readiness and potential will become part of urban farming development in East Jakarta.
“We hope our presence in schools can make a positive contribution, both for students, school committees, head teachers and the surrounding community, particularly in utilising the land available at schools for agricultural, fisheries and processing activities,” Taufik said.
Furthermore, Taufik noted that urban farming development can also serve as a learning tool as well as a positive activity for students outside formal education.
Through urban farming activities, students can gain direct experience in using land, carrying out cultivation, learning about food production processes and understanding produce management. These activities can also encourage students’ environmental awareness.
To ensure the programme runs in line with schools’ needs, the East Jakarta KPKP Sub-Department has gathered input from educational units. Among the needs conveyed by schools are those relating to cultivation technology, improving the marketing of produce, and strengthening the capacity of teachers and students.
This input will be used to prepare mentoring schemes for schools. In this way, urban farming development will not stop at the provision of facilities, but can continue and develop in accordance with the conditions of each school.
Taufik acknowledged that his office had previously held a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) involving schools, central government, regional government, the business community and the media. This was followed by coordination meetings and workshops attended by all schools in East Jakarta.
“Alhamdulillah, the enthusiasm from schools has been very positive. We hope this will be a good first step,” said Taufik.