In rural Indonesia, young people have been quietly leaving the fields.
For a generation of young men and women in farming communities across the archipelago, agriculture has increasingly come to represent something to leave behind rather than a future worth pursuing. Research consistently shows that the probability of rural youth migrating to urban areas is higher than for older age groups, drawn by the promise of higher wages, more employment options, and lives less tethered to the land. The result is an agricultural workforce that is ageing, shrinking, and under-resourced — and rural communities increasingly face a generational knowledge gap that no amount of short-term intervention will easily close.
But in six villages in East Nusa Tenggara, a new movement is emerging.
RYTHM Foundation, in partnership with Plan Indonesia, launched a youth-focused agricultural development programme to demonstrate that farming can be a future worth choosing, if young people are given the skills, market knowledge, and peer structures to make that choice viable.
The project targeted 200 youth beneficiaries across the Indonesian villages of Wae Codi, Timbu, Bangka Kenda, Ranaka, Golo Cador, and Cireng, equipping them not only with technical agricultural skills, but also with the business literacy, gender awareness, and community organising capabilities needed to build sustainable livelihoods.
Within its first year, the programme engaged 209 young people, surpassing its original target of 200 participants. In addition, 53% of participants are women, many of whom have shown strong learning outcomes in the programme’s Green Skills modules – a promising milestone that also hints at a deeper transformation in how women see themselves and their role in society.
Shifting Perspectives: Emilia Claims Her Role in Female-Led Farming
Before joining the project, Emilia Konsulata Alupan believed what many women in her community had always been told: that a woman’s role was to take care of the home, raise children, and support the family from behind the scenes. Income generation and economic decision-making were primarily the responsibility of men.
When her husband joined the Green Skills project to train in Climate Smart Agriculture, Emilia became curious about the opportunities it offered and decided to participate herself.
The project taught Emilia about organic compost production, environmentally friendly farming practices, financial literacy, crop marketing, and sustainable vegetable cultivation, equipping her with practical knowledge and skills while building her confidence to take a more active role in supporting her family’s livelihood.
Emilia eventually expanded her farming activities onto her own land, applying the knowledge and skills gained through the programme to increase productivity and generate additional income. Today, she not only puts her learning to practice – she also shares her knowledge with others in the community. Her knowledge-sharing efforts have encouraged others to adopt better farming practices, extending the project’s impact beyond its direct beneficiaries.
The programme has also reshaped gender dynamics within her household. Emilia shared that most of her family recognise and practise gender equity, and that her farming activities are strongly supported by her husband and family members.
Empowering Livelihoods: Yosifina Unlocks New Income Opportunities
As a recent graduate of a teacher training programme, Yosifina Jaiman never expected that farming would become an important part of her livelihood journey. But through the Green Skills project, she was introduced to horticulture and gained practical agricultural skills that opened new livelihood opportunities.
Historically, her home village of Timbu relied primarily on paddy, coffee, and candlenut farming. Horticulture was largely unfamiliar, and few imagined it could become a source of income for local families. Yosifina enthusiastically explored the full cultivation process – from preparing planting beds and planting holes to watering, fertilising, crop maintenance, and harvesting. Through training and hands-on mentoring on proper farming techniques, she learned how to improve crop quality and increase productivity.
Today, she cultivates a variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, beans, cauliflower, and cabbage. Despite facing challenges along the way, she remained committed to continuously improving her farming practices.
Her dedication has produced encouraging results. To date, she has completed four harvest cycles and generated approximately IDR 15 million (around USD 840) in income.
Futureproofing Through Sustainable Farming
This partnership between RYTHM and Plan Indonesia has done more than build agricultural skills. It has helped redefine how communities see women like Emilia and Yosifina. Through Green Skills training and Gender Action Learning System (GALS) sessions, this initiative is creating the kind of space where women’s capacity to learn, earn, and lead is taken seriously. Community attitudes are beginning to shift; women who were once invisible in the economic life of their villages are increasingly recognised as contributors not just to family income, but to community development as a whole.
This shift is reinforced by tangible gains in how farming itself is practised and understood. Where beneficiaries once faced significant crop losses due to extreme weather, Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) training has given them the tools and know-how to select crops based on weather and soil conditions, plan more effective planting schedules, and build greater resilience into their farming systems. Participants are increasingly adopting organic and environmentally responsible practices, including composting with locally available materials and food waste, laying the groundwork for farming that is both more sustainable and less vulnerable to future shocks.
These improvements in production are matched by improvements in market access. Beneficiaries are now selling produce through a growing range of channels, from local village markets in Ruteng to hotels in Labuan Bajo, suppliers linked to Indonesia’s Badan Gizi Nasional (National Nutrition Agency) school meal initiative, and direct community sales. By connecting farmers to buyers and strengthening their understanding of market opportunities, the project has begun to demonstrate real potential to strengthen local food systems and reduce Manggarai’s dependence on vegetables sourced from elsewhere.
None of this would be sustainable without the relationships underpinning it. Strong partnerships with local stakeholders, combined with strong support of local authorities for youth agriculture initiatives, have created a foundation for continued progress beyond the life of the project. Through close collaboration and sustained community engagement, these partnerships are helping ensure that the knowledge, confidence and opportunities cultivated today will continue to grow – empowering young people not only to build more resilient livelihoods, but also to become leaders in shaping the future of their communities.
