Exploring Good Practices and Socio-Cultural Challenges of Suku Anak Dalam Jambi through Journalist Visit
"The forest is now difficult, and we can no longer depend on the forest. If you have land, you should try gardening now," he said.
Suku Anak Dalam (SAD), one of the indigenous communities in Jambi Province, has lived for a long time relying on forests as their source of livelihood. However, modernisation and massive forest encroachment for palm oil plantations and other development programmes are squeezing their living space and forcing SAD communities to face severe challenges. They must adapt to these changes while maintaining their cultural identity, land rights and environmental sustainability.
Pundi Sumatra, in the ESTUNGKARA programme, has provided assistance to the SAD community. Some of the successful self-reliance activities include agricultural business management, workshop training, biofloc development for fish enlargement, to education and health services for the community. However, there are many challenges in the aspect of fulfilling basic services that still have to be fought for, such as access to formal education, limited health services, and complex land issues.
In order to raise public awareness about the living conditions of indigenous peoples, Pundi Sumatra held a Journalist Visit from 20 to 22 September 2024. This activity involved journalists from national media such as Mongabay, Kompas TV, CNN Indonesia, and Kompas.com, to see firsthand the various good practices and challenges faced by the Suku Anak Dalam (SAD) community in Pelepat District, Bungo Regency, and Bathin VIII sub-district, Sarolangun Regency, Jambi Province.
Selama kegiatan Jurnalis Visit, peserta diajak untuk melihat langsung beberapa praktik baik komunitas SAD dalam agenda diskusi bersama. Dalam sesi diskusi dan wawancara, komunitas bercerita tentang perubahan pola hidup jangka panjang yang mulai mereka sadari. Samsu, salah satu komunitas SAD Desa Dwi Karya Bakti, Kabupaten Bungo bercerita bahwa hasil hutan semakin sulit dan membuat mereka harus mengubah mata pencaharian.
"The forest is now difficult, and we can no longer depend on the forest. If you have land, you should try gardening now," he said.
One of Samsu's efforts to move forward is to send his only daughter to study in the city. Juliana, who has just completed her final exams at the Jambi Muhammadiyah University campus, was the highlight of the visit. Juliana is not only a symbol of hope for the women in her community, but also shows that education can be a way out of the negative stigma often faced by these indigenous people. This story caught the attention of journalists, who saw first-hand the role of SAD women in smoked fish small business groups and the involvement of SAD women as posyandu cadres.
Dewi Yunita, CEO of Pundi Sumatra, shared that the women from Rombong Hari and Badai were never involved in group activities. Since the first time they assisted, only the men's group was allowed to discuss outside with Pundi Sumatra. ‘Currently, the indigenous women of Suku Anak Dalam have been involved in many activities, some have become group leaders, become cadres of porsyandu, and have the courage to appear in meetings with outsiders,’ she said.
Furthermore, she also explained that empowering women means creating advanced and developed generations. The hope is that from the women who take part in group empowerment, the voices and concerns of women related to the household can be advocated together.
Moving on from the SAD community in Dwi Karya Bakti Village, Bungo Regency, in the SAD Community of Limbur Tembesi Village, the Journalist Visit participants observed various other empowerment activities carried out, such as fish enlargement using biofloc media, agricultural field school programmes, and workshop activities. All of these aim to provide alternative sources of livelihood for communities that are increasingly losing access to forest products.
In a discussion with journalists, Tumenggung Juray shared their concerns after living without their forest. Now they live in the midst of social activities without skills. As a result, their livelihood has declined.
"We often pick up scrap metal from the roadside to sell, quoting Brondol. Some of us do gardening, but the results are not optimal because we lack capital and skills," he said.
The social issues that have never been resolved in the Suku Anak Dalam indigenous community make the government's work more and more piling up. Some of the steps taken by Pundi Sumatra are to synergise with the local government. Among them are by conducting multi-stakeholder discussions to capture mutual commitment, inviting policy makers to go to the field and dialogue with the community, and holding journalist visits as part of the empowerment advocacy movement through the media.
"Bringing up the independence of the SAD community cannot be realised in a short time, there is a long journey. We have been assisting the SAD Bungo community for about ten years. They are slowly becoming independent in accessing government services," said Yori Sandi, programme coordinator.
The main purpose of this Journalist Visit is for journalists to see firsthand the socio-cultural dynamics that occur in the SAD community and document the various good practices that have been carried out by this community with the support of Pundi Sumatra. The hope is that the resulting media coverage can increase public awareness of the importance of protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and encourage concrete steps from various parties to address existing problems.
