Local Foods Are Shaping the Future
A divorced mother of four, Pitay is a go-getter who has supplemented her farm income for many years by selling hand-ground cornmeal. At 43, she admits pounding 25-30 pounds of corn three or four times a week is hard work and not something she’ll have the strength to do indefinitely. But she has a plan. After training in processing local foods and the basics of entrepreneurship, financial literacy and group management, she envisions her homemade-snacks business as a way out of poverty and drudgery.
Local partner PMPB’s goal is to help strengthen community food security by focusing on growing and processing local foods. Pumpkin, cassava, native beans and leaves are already well-suited to the climate, and require fewer inputs. And reducing dependence on imported food ingredients, fertilizers and transportation costs is a huge savings.
Supplementing her income by selling pounded corn in the marketplace, she’s proud to make it possible for people to make bose, a traditional staple corn-porridge dish flavored with smoked meat, fish, red beans, or peanuts. However, the effort required for a woman in her forties to keep this up is not sustainable. Even though her snacks business contributes only a fraction of the family’s income right now, it’s already helping her cover her children’s school fees. “There’s always enough of a profit to help us meet our needs.”
Pitay has put aside a little money toward her dream of owning and running a small kiosk where she can serve customers who know just how good her snacks are.
“I want to be known as the best producer and seller of local snacks in this village. If someone celebrates a birthday, or if there are church activities or events at the village office, whether in this or neighboring villages, I want them ordering their snacks from me.”
Indonesia West Timor Program
Led by Church World Service and Local Partner Perkumpulan Masyarakat Penanganan Bencana (PMPB)