Lemusa Sulawesi, Indonesia - Floods

Rita Rondunuwu is a farmer here in Lemusa village in Sulawesi, Indonesia. With the earnings from her one hectare plot of land, she has provided for her children and her sick husband. But four months ago, tragedy struck. SOUNDBITE (Bahasa Indonesia) Rita Rondunuwu, farmer: "The earth was shaking so I said to my mother: mom, maybe it's thunder. And my mother said, it's not thunder, why does it smell like mud? And it's so close. Very close. In fact the flood was already behind the village." The flood swelled the rivers and burst a nearby dam. Hundreds of uprooted trees were swept down the mountain and the village was covered by six metres of mud. Two people died that night. It's a story that's become far too common in Indonesia. Almost every month there are floods . And with changing weather patterns, they occur even in the dry season. Deforestation on mountain slopes causes a loosening of the soil, so heavy rains often result in landslides, leading to this kind of destruction. It was two weeks before the mud hardened and Rita could check on her farm. This is what she found. SOUNDBITE (Bahasa Indonesia) Rita Rondunuwu, farmer: "Here we used to plant cocoa, from here until there. There was also coconut. At that time the river flow was on the other side and around here were coconuts and cocoa but after the flood there's nothing. Not a single thing left. Of course, I feel very sad because this was the hope for my children for schooling. All gone." Rita's farm may be gone but there is still hope. A few years ago, she started weaving baskets to supplement her income, but it wasn't earning her much money. Then she heard that with support from the Indonesian Government and the UN agency IFAD, she could access funds to develop her business if she was part of a group. So she joined with other weavers, and with those funds they could buy enough palm fronds to quickly fill big orders. They now supply a number of restaurants around the country and share the profits. All of the women here lost their farms in the flood. Without the weaving, none of their families would have any source of income. SOUNDBITE (Bahasa Indonesia) Rita Rondunuwu, farmer: "Fortunately we have this business making these baskets to earn money for the family for food. We don't think of anything else, just food." And this basket business is not just helping the weavers. Their neighbour Since Deto was getting ready to harvest her rice crop when the flood hit. She not only lost her one hectare paddy, but this is all that remains of her home. She, her husband and her three children were left with only the clothes on their backs. SOUNDBITE (Bahasa Indonesia) Rita Rondunuwu, farmer: "I feel so hopeless. It is hard to get food and clothes." But because Rita's weaving business survived the flood, Since can now earn some money. She spends her days stripping palm leaves and she sells these to the weavers. Meanwhile, with additional support from IFAD, the weavers are learning marketing and book-keeping, so that their business can grow. According to the organisation's Ron Hartman, it's essential to encourage farmers to have diverse sources of income, especially with climate and environmental changes making agriculture far more risky. SOUNDBITE(English) Ron Hartman, IFAD Country Program Manager, Indonesia: "Lemusa village I think is a good example of many villages across Indonesia in terms of its vulnerability; and opportunities to diversify from agriculture has provided people in this village, such as the basket weavers, an opportunity that if a disaster does hit that they are able to still generate some income for livelihood." And with this income, Rita and the other weavers can now start to rebuild their lives.