Cattle of Hope

Sukatun is a single mother and farmer from the village of Kampung Baru in East Java, Indonesia. In 2014, her community, along with many others, suffered massive damage from the eruption of nearby Mount Kelud. Fifty-six percent of all losses were in agriculture. 

“I had planted tomatoes and chillies. I was preparing to harvest the chillies when the mountain erupted that night. On the first day after the eruption, I was still able to harvest some of them. But after that everything became dry and impossible to harvest. On the second day I went back to harvest the rest but the result was... How to decribe it? It makes me very sad.”

But thanks to FAO support and training in communal livestock management, the group has found new hope for survival, as well as improved resilience for the future. “Of course we do not want another disaster,” explains Sukatun. But if Mount Kelud were to erupt again, she adds, “we would still have assets we can save and we can rely on as a main source of income.”

“Unlike plants, cattle can be evacuated.”

27/07/2017