Being a farmer might not be attractive to some people, especially for the young generation. They prefer to seek jobs in town for a better fortune. This was also the situation of a youth group in Cendana village, until a local pastor gathered and motivated them to work on something productive.

As many as 25 youths from Cendana village previously had various jobs, such as ojek (motorbike taxi) driver and shopkeepers. These young men and women were interested in the farmer group in their village who succeeded in vegetable farming with good production and income, they were even more motivated to follow the existing farmers’ success.

Desa Cendana’s youth group started their farming business by planting 1600 tomatoes in a demo field of 560 m², under the technical guidance of YTBS Field Staff. As many 1600 plants were planted – For this harvest season, they earned US $457 (Rp 6,175,000). This has become proof that farming is quite promising to make their livelihood better in their own village.

Vegetable production brings improvement for the economy of farmers.  This youth farmer group continues to work together and gets support from respected elders farmers. They even proposed to the local government, asking for a favor to arrange market channels for their harvest.