Rural Corner is a monthly seminar at the Center for Rural and Regional Studies at Gadjah Mada University (PSPK UGM), which is held every Thursday the first week, at 3:00 p.m. at the Sartono Room of PSPK UGM, Bulaksumur G-7.
PSPK UGM opened the opportunity to work together with various government institutions, NGOs, private sector, and other social organizations to hold joint seminars, especially those related to rural and regional development issues.
One of them Rural Corner raises the theme “Utilization of Village Funds for Farmers’ Welfare and Food Security.” The theme chosen is a series of Rural Corner themes held previously to examine and evaluate the Village Law that has been running for 5 years.
In article 80 of the Village Law, it is explicitly stated that program priorities that are highly related to agriculture are the development of productive economies of agriculture, the development and use of appropriate technologies for economic progress which are all highly related to agriculture. When village funds can be allocated well for agriculture, if agriculture becomes productive, food security becomes good, poverty will decrease.
Village funds are expected to be managed properly so that poverty in rural areas can be reduced significantly, one of them is by various village community empowerment activities as told by Subejo about Rahayu who succeeded in making innovations in the form of cassava-based rice in Gunung Kidul. The existence of other food sources replacing rice can increase food security and reduce rural poverty. Whereas according to the interviewees, several village programs through village funds have largely been directed to the field of agricultural economics such as the implementation of labor-intensive programs to revitalize irrigation, village embungs, and village forests.
High rice consumption is not matched by good production, such as the majority of elderly farmers, poor irrigation systems, even many farmers who only rely on rainwater for their crops. As a result, in the dry season, they have to buy rice. The existence of other food sources replacing rice can increase food security and reduce rural poverty.
