In 2011, 82 households in Bakalan hamlet, Argomulyo village were forced to move to the Kuwang shelter, when their homes were buried in volcanic ash and cold lava flows stemming from the Mount Merapi eruption in October 2010. The Bakalan villagers lived in the Kuwang shelter with 166 households from six other settlements.

FAO supported the Bakalan households to build new livelihoods in the Kuwang shelter. FAO value chain analysis and expertise produced a disaster risk reduction-based (DRR-based) communal cattle husbandry and development program to increase community cattle production utilising available feed resources.

"We feel that the FAO livelihood recovery programme has helped us. As someone who was affected by the Merapi eruptions, I've really benefitted from the training I've been given, especially on cattle health and alternative feeds. I hope that this support will improve the standard of living of people affected by Merapi," Wofirudin, Chair of the Kuwang Communal Cow Shed Group, Sleman District, Jogjakarta expressed.

The Merapi United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP) was funded by the New Zealand Government Aid Programme (NZ Aid) and channelled through the Indonesia Multi Donor Fund Facility for Disaster Recovery (IMDFF-DR), which is a trust fund managed and overseen by the Government of Indonesia. The first phase of the UNJP Merapi project was implemented in 2012 and 2013. Major economic recovery results were:

• Communal cattle pens fully functioning in the Kuwang and Blongkeng target areas, benefitting 120 households;

• Five commodities fully developed through home-based industries, i.e. food processing, batik clothes, mushroom production, Volcano Tour, and embroidery;

• Fully operational tangible means of livelihoods support for the affected families, involving 642 community members, of which about 74% are women; and village promotion teams fully trained on market access and marketing strategies for the home-based industries.

Published: March, 2016
Project: Merapi Volcanic Eruption Livelihoods Recovery Programme (UNJP/INS/082/UNJ)