My old college friend, Bruce Briscoe,
is a member of the Ubud Sunset Rotary Club in Bali, Indonesia. Bruce put me in touch with Sue Winski, another
Rotary member, who arranged for me to give a presentation on the SOIL Fund at a Rotary Club meeting while I was in Bali in early August 2012. Sue also put me in touch with David Booth, an English ex-pat, civil
engineer, and founder of the East Bali Poverty Project (EBPP).
A poor community within a tourist
destination
Poverty in Bali? Much
of Bali prospers from tourist dollars, and the Indonesian government wants to
project a picture of happy Balinese people to potential tourists. According to David Booth, the Indonesian
government had published data in the 1990s claiming that no poverty existed in
Bali. They reasoned that aid
organizations working with malnourished children would hurt the island’s image
with tourists. In response to the data, many
aid organizations working in Bali pulled out in 1995.
David had been living in Bali for several years and knew
that the government’s rosy image of the island didn’t hold water. After doing his own research, he identified
Desa Ban in the northeastern corner of Bali as the poorest community on the
island. In 1998, he founded the East
Bali Poverty Project (EBPP) to provide a comprehensive approach to the
economic, social, and environmental problems of Desa Ban.
 |
David Booth, EBPP Founder and CEO, with his able
Balinese assistants, Ketut Suastika (left) and Nengah Ardika Adinata
(right). Nengah and Ketut are wearing
jackets and scarves because the morning air (around 20oC – high 60s
F) feels cold to Balinese when they ride their motor bikes at 900 meters elevation
(2900ft).
|
Desa Ban’s misfortunes were closely related to the
circumstances of its geography. The
community is located between two towering volcanic peaks (Abang and Agung) on
slopes averaging 30o (67%).
During the rainy season, it is sometimes hammered by catastrophic
floods, while streams disappear during the dry season and the porous volcanic
soils lose all the moisture needed to grow crops.
Mount Agung (3150m – about 10,000ft) provides an idyllic backdrop to the east Bali community of Desa Ban.
|
Prior to EBPP’s involvement, the villagers eked out a precarious existence growing cassava and maize (corn) and were limited to one crop per year. There were no roads, no schools, no sanitation, and no health care facilities for the 15,000 people spread out in Desa Ban’s 19 villages over an area of 7200 hectares (18,000 acres). Child mortality was 30-50% before age one and many kids were covered with sores. Because the nearest reliable springs were too far from the community to provide a regular source of water, people gathered rainwater from their roofs for domestic use. Rainwater lacks some of the essential minerals needed for human health, especially iodine. Thus, goiter was rampant in the population and many children suffered from iodine deficiency disease.
Attacking poverty at Desa Ban
After identifying these issues, David went to the community
and asked what they needed to improve their lives. They replied that their top priorities were
education for their children and better farming techniques. Thus, rather than deciding himself what was
best for the community, David involved the local people early in the process
which gave them “ownership” of the project.
Obviously,
attacking such problems took a lot of bucks, and David has been quite
successful in finding funding sources such as UNICEF and the British embassy in
Indonesia. He has also raised money by providing
consulting services to mining companies, resorts, and other commercial
enterprises in Indonesia showing them how to use vetiver grass to stabilize
mine tailings and absorb sewage waste.
In the 14
years since the EBPP was founded, the results have been impressive:
- Childhood
vaccination rates are now 100% and child mortality has been virtually
eliminated.- 27 health centers have been established in the community promoting tremendous improvements in maternal and child health.
- UNICEF has provided iodine tablets eliminating iodine deficiency-related health problems.
- More than 200 previously illiterate children, ages 6 to 15, attend six schools scattered in hamlets around the community.
- Safe drinking water from three mountain springs now serve 1500 families and more than 850 appropriate technology rainwater collection reservoirs have been built providing a year-round source of domestic and irrigation water.
- Crops have been diversified and up to three crops per year can now be produced. Organic gardening using worm composting is flourishing on rehabilitated farmland.
- More than 25km of improved roads now link 19 hamlets in the community with each other and the outside world.
- Solar power has been provided to hamlets which have no connection to the electrical power grid.
- Reforestation with bamboo has rejuvenated the local ecosystem and provided a sustainable community industry which produces bamboo for construction uses.
 |
| “We love you foreigners! Just keep providing the iodine tablets and vaccinations for our kids.” |
 |
| Village school in Damaji village. Another dozen years of practice and she may be on stage in an ornate costume interpreting traditional Balinese dances. |
 |
| New bridges and improved roads are providing better access to markets and services for the people of Desa Ban. |
Vetiver!
What does
Desa Ban’s success in battling poverty have to do with erosion control? First of all, soil erosion was one of the significant
elements related to the community’s desperate situation. Clearing the mountainsides of their natural
protective cover of vegetation to grow cassava and maize had resulted in a loss
of the rich volcanic topsoil over time.
With topsoil being gradually being lost by erosion, crop yields had
nowhere to go but down. |
| Sustainable agroforestry on a steep hillside in Desa Ban. |
EBPP has greatly reduced soil erosion by the introduction of agricultural terraces which retain water and are protected by vetiver grasses. Vetiver is valued throughout tropical Asia for its deep roots which do an excellent job of holding soil in place and retaining soil moisture. Desa Ban has vetiver nurseries where the grasses are started from shoots and eventually transplanted to terraces and slopes which need stabilization. I saw the effective use of vetiver in the community and was very impressed. These grasses are providing long-term stability to agricultural land in Desa Ban and have the potential to save millions of tons of topsoil in tropical areas.
The EBPP
website (http://eastbalipovertyproject.org)
provides a helpful description of vetiver and its very useful qualities: Vetiver
is a fast growing clump grass with sterile seeds that make it impossible for
the plant to spread like a weed. With a
dense and deep root system (penetrates up to 3 meters below the ground surface)
it is able to prevent against erosion and landslides. Through this function, vetiver has also
enabled the building of protected roads, fortification of fertile farmland, and
flood protection. Beyond this, vetiver
acts as a purifying agent, improving soil fertility and water quality, and is
one of the most effective natural methods of carbon sequestration. Vetiver is also harvested in a variety of
ways that can provide building materials and crafts that can be sold to help
stimulate the local economy.
 |
Deep-rooted vetiver grass planted along the outer edge of agricultural terraces holds topsoil in place.
|
I hope that
erosion control specialists can find inspiration from the successes in Desa Ban. Whether we are botanists, soil scientists,
civil engineers, geologists, etc., we should contemplate lending our talents to
groups working with poor communities in developing countries.
And by the
way, David is looking for volunteer help from a specialist in “rainwater
harvesting” if you know anyone with that skill.
