Sri Sultan Urges Yogyakarta Scouts to Strengthen Food Self-Sufficiency
The Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY) Scout Movement has been urged to take a tangible role in strengthening food self-sufficiency. This can begin with planting crops, managing home gardens, conserving water, and encouraging the public to appreciate agricultural produce.
The message was delivered by the Chairman of the Advisory Council of the DIY Regional Scout Council, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, while serving as the inspecting officer at the 63rd Scout Day Regional Ceremony for DIY at Wonosari Square, Gunungkidul, on Saturday (22/8).
The ceremony, themed ‘Strengthening Organisational Steps to Support Food Self-Sufficiency Towards Golden Indonesia 2045’, was attended by the Chairperson of the DIY Regional Scout Council, GKR Hayu, Gunungkidul Regent Endah Subekti Kuntariningsih, members of the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum, as well as scout leaders and members from across DIY.
Opening his address, Sri Sultan invited participants to view Gunungkidul as a region that teaches resilience. The karst soil conditions, prolonged dry seasons, and water scarcity have been experiences that have forged the endurance of its people.
‘We gather today on the land of Gunungkidul. A land that teaches steadfastness. Karst rocks, long dry seasons, and limited water have become teachers for its people,’ said Sri Sultan.
The Governor of DIY stated that resilience is born from the perseverance to turn limitations into strengths. This thinking aligns with the ideas of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX at the 1971 World Scout Congress in Tokyo, delivered through his speech ‘The Trend in Scouting’, which affirmed Scouts as reliable agents of development.
In the context of food, Sri Sultan invited Scouts to apply the philosophy of Hamemayu Hayuning Bawana through restoring land fertility and respecting the role of farmers.
‘Production may be increased, but soil fertility must be restored. Technology may be applied, but humans and nature must remain honoured,’ he asserted.
He also encouraged Scouts to strengthen the Lumbung Mataraman programme to revitalise agrarian culture. This is in line with the principle of ‘eating what is planted, planting what is eaten’.
‘When Scout children plant chillies in school yards, assist residents in arranging their home gardens, or encourage others not to waste food, they are helping to safeguard the nation’s future,’ said Sri Sultan.
Sri Sultan asked scout leaders to introduce the food production process from an early age and to make Lumbung Mataraman a social laboratory for Scouts. From Gunungkidul, he emphasised that natural limitations are not a reason to give up.
‘Karst rocks teach steadfastness. Home gardens teach self-reliance. Scouts teach service,’ he stated.
The series of events concluded with the awarding of Scout Movement honours and the symbolic handover of tree seedlings to the Chairpersons of the Branch Advisory Councils across DIY.
Sri Sultan also invited Scouts to make food self-sufficiency a cultural and national movement.
‘A cultural movement, because it guides people to live in harmony with the land and with one another. A national movement, because it strengthens the sovereignty of the people from families to villages,’ he concluded.