Rural Youth Climate Action Movement for Cool Farming in Indonesia
Climate change poses major challenges for agriculture and forestry. On the one hand, the pace and scope of climate change overwhelms smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity. On the other hand, the greenhouse gas emissions of these sectors themselves contribute massively to climate change. Moreover, the smallholder family farms that produce the bulk of staple foods in the Global South do not have the means to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. This jeopardises food security, leads to impoverishment and to the migration of young people to the cities. The project in Indonesia aims to reverse this trend by promoting the knowledge of young rural people on climate-friendly and -resilient, yet profitable methods of smallholder agriculture and supporting pilot projects of young farmers. Anchoring in youth associations, as well as university and policy support, promotes the sustainability and upscaling potential of the project approaches.
- Countries
- Indonesia
- IKI funding
- 669,488.00 €
- Duration
- 03/2024 till 02/2027
- Status
- open
- Implementing organisation
- Humboldt-University of Berlin, Centre for Rural Development (SLE)
- Implementing Partner
-
- Jaringan Masyarakat Tani Indonesia (JAMTANI)
- Motivator Community Development Foundation
State of implementation/results
- Through events, social media channels and contests, the project has started to establish a "Generation Z Network" committed to transforming family farms into thriving and resilient net-zero emission farms.
- The project has set up its own website and an Instagram channel to reach the younger generation in rural areas and encourage them to actively participate in the project's activities.
- School projects on climate protection measures on farms have been be carried out to raise awareness among land users.
- A school challenge has been conducted in 2024 to raise awareness about climate protection measures in the AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use) sector across the islands of Bali, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papua, and Sumatra. 66 proposals from 60 schools were submitted and out of these, 32 winning groups/schools were selected, and will be supported to implement their proposed ideas.
- The project activities increase awareness of food security under the pressure of climate change, practical experience and capacity with "cool farming" practices and their importance for climate change mitigation, adaptation and prosperity of family farms (see project website rycam.id).
- A farmer group challenge has been conducted.
- In 2024 a feasibility study (edoc.hu-berlin.de/…) and analysis of youth opportunities on net zero farming have been conducted by nine young researchers.
- 24 farmer groups have been selected to implement their innovative cool farming ideas.
- GHG Calculator web-app has been launched and used to monitor the GHG mitigation in the Farmer Challenge activity.
- RYCAM Climate Youth Camp, was held from 6–8 July 2026, with 145 participants from more than 32 schools representing 7 big islands in Indonesia. Around 70 high school students, 30 teachers, and representatives of CSOs came together to explore their potential contributions to the future low-emission agriculture movement.
Latest Update:
09/2026
Project relations
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