Jakarta's Urban Farms Come To The Rescue Of Food-Insecure Residents
- Arpan Rachman and Andi Aisyah Lamboge
- Apr 23
- 7 min read
Updated: May 2
This story is part of The 89 Percent Project, an initiative of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now.
In Jakarta’s Duren Sawit district, where traffic jams and towering apartments define the urban sprawl, resident Haryati’s Malakasari Edu Farm lies in striking contrast to its surroundings.
Haryati feels deeply emotional about her journey towards starting this farm. Only six years ago, she was a widow and a mother of three children with no gardening experience. Today, this farm that Haryati started with her savings has been helping many women financially while also acting as an educational hub for smart farming. Gardening has become a passion in her life that makes her lose track of time, whether she is plucking red spinach in the greenhouse or engaging in other gardening activities.
Just 17 kilometers (10 miles) southeast of the district agency office, Malakasari Edu farm thrives with a variety of flowering, fruiting, and medicinal plants. Its blue-painted walls are adorned with twigs and branches. The centre of attraction, however, is the smart sensors that automatically water the plants, replacing manual labor and showcasing the role of smart farming. Among the pioneers to have utilised smart agricultural practices in Jakarta, Malakasari Edu Farm has set new standards of agriculture.
“The locals were enthusiastic and supported this activity. The plants started to turn green, and the alley also started to be neat because we painted it in various colors,” Haryati told The Xylom. “After that, we won the national championship (in the alley greening competition).”
In the sinking city of Jakarta, where green space is a luxury, community-led urban farming is a solution for citizens to secure more reliable sources of food. This is a major transformation for a city that is more than 95% dependent on food from Indonesia’s rural regions.
Although it has made strides in recent years, Indonesia suffers from major food insecurity. In 2023, about 13% of more than 500 municipalities in the fourth-most populous country in the world were vulnerable to food insecurity, according to the United Nations World Food Programme. Indonesia also imports 65% of its raw food supplies and spent $28 billion on agricultural imports in 2022. Its largest agricultural imports come from Australia, the United States, and Brazil, which makes it reliant on strong trade relationships with the West.
This solution not only contributes to food security but can also help Indonesian cities become more resilient to the effects of climate change by enhancing their economy and accessibility to green spaces and cleaner air.
Oswar Muadzin Mungkasa, who authored the 2018-2030 Grand Design of Urban Agriculture plan for the special region of Jakarta, with the assistance of several civil society organizations, planned a green building design for the city funded by the International Finance Corporation from the World Bank. Jakarta also received a 100 Resilient Cities grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
“I look at Jakarta, if something happens, we could die in three days,” he says. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had difficulty getting food, right?”
A 2024 research study on the impact of urban farming in Indonesia shows that the rate of urban farming in Jakarta has increased by about a quarter since 2019, with more than 500 community farms established in the city as of 2024.
“Above the issue of food security, there is food sovereignty. That is what we want to aim for when we talk about urban farming,” Mungkasa says.
Community-led urban farms improve quality of life
It took more than a decade for urban farming to become a movement in Jakarta. One of the pioneers and an urban legend, architect Ridwan Kamil, established the Jakarta Gardening Community way back in 2011.
Jakarta resident Beriozka Anita, who acquired a hectare of land fuelled by her passion for community activities, was at first oblivious to the basics of gardening. “We were [under the impression] that tomatoes originated from bottles of tomato sauce,” the mother of three says. Her efforts with the Jakarta Gardening Community stirred a movement called Indonesia Gardening in twenty-five cities, many of which involve young people.
The Jakarta Gardening Community remained a volunteer-based community, despite suggestions from members about turning it into a commercial supplier for supermarkets and restaurants or a profit-oriented organization. They developed the 3E concept: ecology (restoring soil fertility), economics (selling crops), and education (educating the public about environmental issues, especially for youngsters).
“The initial goal has not changed. Besides gardening for entertainment in urban areas, it is more of a short escape during weekends,” says Dina Rahmawati, a community member working with the Jakarta Gardening Community. Leveraging social media, the Jakarta Gardening Community has connected with enthusiasts to trade seeds, host mobile garden markets, and run a Gardening Academy for plant cultivation.
Green Puspa Integrated Healthy Village, led by Zulfikar Kusdarmawan, is another community-driven farming initiative that is an example of how neglected areas can become productive green spaces.
“In the past, slum land was used as a cart rental base. This land was often flooded, then filled in, and cleaned. Housemothers have positive activities for the settlement, followed by teenagers. They can finally produce vegetable products too,” says Slamet, a local neighborhood head in East Jakarta. Now, this space is filled with vertical gardens, neatly arranged plant beds, and vibrant murals.
Utilizing compost as a plant fertilizer, these urban farms convert organic waste. The greenery of leaves and trees also refreshes the climate around these districts.
Local resident Puji Lestari has planted bok choy, spinach, and melons at the Green Puspa Farm. Together with ten other housewives, she harvests spinach every 21 days and sells it on a WhatsApp group for other local residents.
“Typically, I also consume this spinach. With only a little processing, it transforms into a delectable dish, and its flavor differs from the one I purchased from the market,” she says as she switches on the mist pump to irrigate the plants in the greenhouse. “Veggies are also cleaner and hence, we could eat them directly after a wash.”
Authors of a 2023 study exploring how urban gardens uniquely enhance women's mental health in Jakarta write, “Notably, women who visit their urban home garden more than seven times a week and spend over two hours per day in their garden report the highest levels of mental well-being.”
Can scientific innovations come to the rescue?
Warid, a lecturer at Trilogi University in Kalibata, South Jakarta, started the Trilogi Garden on the campus in 2013. He adds bacteria, planting medium, and solid organic fertilisers to improve the soil quality. The garden is sustainable and is run by students who prepare seeds and seedlings, water, rake, and remove weeds from the garden area every weekend. “We have planted Rose Tomatoes. This plant is resistant to disease or pests. But it tastes more sour,” says Warid, who was born into a family of farmers.
Trilogi Garden operates on a self-sustaining model, where students and community members consume what they grow, reinforcing the principles of urban agriculture. The garden has two greenhouses, several grow boxes, and vegetable plots.
Warid has spent 11 years studying what can grow in Jakarta’s hot, lowland soil and has been carefully selecting seeds suited to the region, avoiding highland and subtropical varieties. Showing the sweet-tasting Sweet Italiano chile from Italy, he says, “Some have succeeded, and this is the proof. To the original red variety, the chili has turned green, is three months old, and is twice as little. Because this chile may adapt, we will replant the seeds later. Let’s hope chili grows larger in the next generations.”
Beyond relying on community support, a defining feature of Jakarta’s urban farms is their use of smart technology, such as the IoT (Internet of Things) network.
"Digital technology strategies have a positive impact on farmers' income,” say authors in a 2023 study about the competitiveness of urban farming in Jakarta.
IoT technology and smart devices can increase the efficiency and productivity of urban farms. Sensors can monitor soil conditions, humidity, and light, while smartphone applications can help farmers manage their plants in real-time. These technologies not only make agriculture more appealing to millennials but also increase potential economic benefits.
Crews are able to manage their hydroponic and aquaponic systems using IoT tools at different times during the day. Rizal Abdurrohman, a social activist and head of a local youth organization, says that he is able to save money through IoT tools in his hydroponic gardens and fish aquaculture farms.
But no matter how innovative they are, these urban farming efforts may be in vain if they cannot promise food security in a country that is increasingly failing to feed its citizens.
Even though these programs are becoming increasingly important for food security in Indonesia, there has been a serious lack of effort from the government, according to Dwi Andreas Santosa, professor at Bogor Agricultural University, who said the government was forced to import over 3 million tons of rice in 2023 due to a reduction in rice yields. “So that’s the biggest problem. Even though rice is our staple food,” he said.
Indonesia imports several other essentials for its food supply, including commodities such as wheat, soybeans, beef, sugar, dairy products, and fresh fruits. With the United States as its second-largest agricultural exporter, Indonesia becomes vulnerable in the face of the steep tariffs announced by the Trump administration earlier this month.
“We have not succeeded [in developing our food farm industry], although there are numerous programs,” Santosa said.
