A portrait of the inauguration ceremony for the 10 "Kebun Mama" Programs held at the Turetogo Bamboo Campus, Wogo Village, Golewa District, Ngada Regency, Friday (10/31/2025). (Personal Doc.)

Ngada, NTT — Efforts to strengthen local food security through women's empowerment have gained new momentum in the easternmost province of the Nusa Tenggara archipelago, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). This event took place on Friday (10/31/2025). The Environmental Sustainable Bamboo Foundation (Yayasan Bambu Lingkungan Lestari) together with the Amati Indonesia Academy Foundation (Yayasan Akademi Amati Indonesia) inaugurated 10 points of the Kebun Mama (Mama’s Garden) Program in NTT, with the Turetogo Bamboo Campus in Wogo Village, Golewa District, Ngada Regency, serving as the pilot garden center.

This inauguration marks a continued commitment to making Kebun Mama a space for learning, field practice, and strengthening women-based local food security through concrete action and community collaboration. The program emphasizes the development of gardening spaces that are not just sources of food, but also vehicles for education, entrepreneurship, and the reinforcement of community values.

Women as Main Drivers of Food Security and Stunting Prevention

In her remarks, the Deputy Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (KPPPA), Veronica Tan, emphasized that practice-based education is the foundation of women's economic independence. She also assessed that the women's garden model has the potential to be expanded so that its impact can be felt more widely.

“Practice-based education needs to be expanded so that women can learn, be empowered, and gain economic strengthening through women's gardens. This initiative needs to be replicated in other regions,” said Veronica Tan.

Founder & CEO of Amati Indonesia, Viringga Prasetyaji Kusuma, assessed that education on healthy food and family nutrition is key to preventing stunting and a step toward strengthening household food independence in NTT. He emphasized the importance of directing gardening activities not just toward the planting process, but toward the utilization of yields that truly impact family health.

“Gardening is not just a routine; it must be directed toward healthy, nutritious, and appealing food that impacts family consumption awareness and the eradication of stunting in NTT,” said Viringga.

From the local government side, the Assistant for Economy of the Ngada Regional Secretariat, Nicolaus Noywuli, emphasized that the role of women in maintaining food availability has been a strength of the community for a long time. He believes that sustainable policy support and mentoring are needed so that local food becomes the primary choice for the community again.

“The government is ready to provide assistance and program strengthening because the spirit of women in the food sector has existed for a long time. We need to restore the consumption of local food in the community,” he said.

Pilot Garden Model Targeted to Expand Across NTT Regions

A portrait of the inauguration ceremony for the 10 "Kebun Mama" Programs held at the Turetogo Bamboo Campus, Wogo Village, Golewa District, Ngada Regency, Friday (10/31/2025). (Personal Doc.)

The Kebun Mama Program targets women as the main actors because they are the ones who have been playing the primary role in managing family food—from selecting seeds, caring for plants, and processing harvests, to arranging the daily menu at home. This approach is in line with efforts to reduce stunting rates in NTT, which still hover around 15–20 percent, while reducing dependence on imported food. In fact, this region has great potential in sorghum, tubers, moringa, and corn as local food sources with high nutritional value.

The launch activity was not just a symbolic ceremony. Participants, consisting of 10 women from the Wogo Kebun Mama community, local government representatives, and about 50 villagers, took part in self-learning sessions through seven educational posters covering food security, permaculture, local food processing techniques, and family garden management. The pilot garden displayed serves as a model to be implemented at 10 points across NTT, with the hope of gradual expansion.

The atmosphere of the event also showed the enthusiasm and sense of ownership from the local community. The activity gave participants the opportunity to re-understand how to manage gardens in a more directed and productive way through direct practice and learning materials.

In the long term, this program aims to form a community of women who learn from one another and share gardening practices, so that food security is not just a concept but a part of daily family life. By involving hundreds of women across various regions of NTT, the Kebun Mama program is expected to build a sustainable local food action network.

“The hope is that local food security will make the economic value of women more empowered through women's gardens and be duplicated in many regions,” concluded Veronica Tan.