"With a baseline, programme progress can be clearly measured and communities can be intervened with programmes that address needs. So it is easy to compare the conditions before and after the programme is implemented,”

Mapping Potential: Data Collection and Spatial Mapping as a Basis for Programme Planning and Implementation in Suku Anak Dalam Communities.

The program "Capacity Building and Food Security of Indigenous Peoples of Suku Anak Dalam Tribe (SAD) through Economic Empowerment and Inclusive Livelihood Revitalization to Support Sustainable Food Security" is one of the new programs at Pundi Sumatra which began in early 2024 with the support of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with programs Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF).

With the support of this program, Pundi Sumatra focuses on the economic empowerment of Suku Anak Dalam in the Cross-Central Sumatra Line, by increasing the technical capacity of cultivation in developing new alternative livelihoods, and maximizing the potential of existing economic businesses.

“The ultimate hope is that the fulfillment of the economic needs of the Suku Anak Dalam community no longer depends entirely on the results of hunting and gathering, but can also be sourced from farming, gardening, or livestock activities that they undertake,” said Dewi Yunita as CEO of Pundi Sumatra. Dewi also said that the IPAF program was implemented in three traditional community locations, namely in Pematang Jumat Village, Sukajadi Village, and Pulau Lintang Village in Bathin VIII sub-district, Sarolangun Regency, Jambi Province.

Before running the program, Pundi Sumatra has conducted program socialization with various stakeholders at the sub-district, village, and strategic stakeholders at the regency level which has been going on since February to April 2024. The submission of the program agenda is not just socializing, but also aims to accommodate input, explore opportunities for support and cooperation to maximize the empowerment program that will be implemented in the three locations.

Exploring Initial Data for Program Baseline

Using the life in approach, Pundi Sumatra also placed one Field Facilitator in each project location to communicate the program plan as well as implement empowerment activities. As an initial step in mapping the potential of the community, Pundi Sumatra conducted data collection from economic, social, and cultural aspects from mid-April to the end of May 2024. This data collection will be an accurate baseline to provide an initial picture of the condition and situation of the community before the program intervention takes place. Data collection also aims to understand the situation and needs of the community, map the potential as well as challenges; so that program implementation can choose effective and appropriate approaches and strategies.

Dewi explained that collecting baseline data is an important step in every empowerment program, the program does not always start from a problem. However, program planning also does not ignore potential, so that programs can be planned, implemented and evaluated efficiently. “With a baseline, the progress of the program can be clearly measured and the community can be intervened with programs that address the needs. So it is easy to compare the conditions before and after the program is implemented”,she explained.

In addition to collecting data on aspects of community life, the field facilitator team also collected data on residential areas and potential community gardens to obtain information about the potential for management space and the potential for land-based economic development for Suku Anak Dalam (SAD). This spatial mapping activity took place on May 8-9, 2024.

The activity of mapping and measuring the plots of gardens owned by SAD residents involved the group leader and the landowner as a guide to the location which was believed to be land owned by the community. The measurement results for the land area for SAD in Limbur Tembesi Village are around 2 hectares. The area of the SAD community garden in Sukajadi Village is about 2.2 hectares with a settlement area of about 0.5 hectares. Meanwhile, the SAD in Pulau Lintang Village has a fairly large garden, residential and yard area, totaling 13 hectares.

Apart from measuring and mapping community land, the field team also collected data on existing infrastructure facilities at the location. In the settlements of SAD Sukajadi Village and SAD Pulau Lintang Village; There is no access to electric lighting and residents still find it difficult to get clean water even though they have shared toilets and public wells.

The Suku Anak Dalam Community hopes that the measurement of their gardens can also be followed up by the village with the issuance of land certificates so that residents can feel more secure and calm about their land ownership status. This mapping activity is also not entirely useful for program needs; it is also intended to help the process of updating data at the village level. Therefore, before the results of the data collection are used, a FDG will also be held at the village level by inviting related parties, to verify together the results of the data collection and mapping of the management space owned by SAD residents, so that the data collected does not overlap with the data that the village or district social service has.

Read more: Preserving Traditions, Strengthening Food Of The Suku Anak Dalam Community