West Timor is part of the NTT Province, a province with a population of 4.1 million people and covers an area of ​​46,138 km2. Vegetable cultivation in Timor is technically still not good, so that farmers are not able to get good yields. This province is one of the lowest in vegetable production in Indonesia, therefore it is also one of the lowest in vegetable consumption. Farmers in Timor also face the risk of water shortages in their farming systems. They also do not have good market access to sell their crops.

The overall objective of this project is to strengthen and improve risk-resistant community agriculture and increase community capacity to minimize climate threats / risks in 3 villages in West Timor, namely Bodyue Village, South Amanuban District, TTS District (Timor Tengah Selatan) , and the villages of Kotabes and Ponain, Kecamatan Amarasi, Kabupaten Kupang.

In April-June 2014, we conducted a feasibility study on these 3 villages to identify strategies that support communities in managing threats and reducing climate risks to their agriculture.

It is clear from the results of our study that a combination of strategies and activities is needed to deal with the threat of drought, increase organizational capacity, and improve vegetable cultivation capacity. The construction of water source facilities will not only increase farmers’ access to land irrigation, but will also build togetherness in facing the threat of drought.

‘Connected water sources’ will make it easier for communities in the village to share knowledge, access information about weather conditions and climate patterns, and work together in building market access for products with added value, good corporate norms, and others.

Beneficiaries of this project were 419 families (25% of 1,623 families in 3 villages). Currently they do not have access to good water sources. In terms of population, the number of beneficiaries was 2,208 people (29% of the total 6,967 people in the three villages). This amount is large enough to bring about change at the village community level. There are 18 groups that will be strengthened through this project.

The project implementation phase starts from July 2014 to September 2015, together with the community we will build an irrigation network from water sources to agricultural land, make demonstration plots and conduct good cultivation training, implement a planting calendar based on market calendar needs, start market access activities for farmers’ agricultural products , maintaining the sustainability of water sources and their catchment areas, empowering groups and initiating the establishment of community cooperatives.