SHEEP Indonesia Foundation together with elements of the community and organisations in Keliha Village, Sabu Raijua Regency initiated the formation of a Village Regulation (PerDes) on livestock control. The making of the PerDes was motivated by efforts to protect the agricultural and plantation businesses of residents through written and mutually agreed regulations so as not to be disturbed by released livestock so as to increase food and livestock production. The formulation was conducted through two stages to conduct group discussions to encourage community participation in writing the points of the PerDes and discussing the impacts and benefits of issuing the PerDes on livestock control.
The formulation activity took place twice, on 25 and 28 February 2023 and was attended by all village officials (BPD - village officials from kadus, RW and RT), religious leaders, traditional leaders, women's representatives, representatives of livestock farmers and village security officers from the local police. Facilitated by YSI field staff; participants were invited to focus on encouraging community participation in drafting the PerDes so that it would actually work and there would be regulations and penalties/fines for violators at the risk of all livestock owners. The second was to discuss the derivative impacts of the PerDes that could open up the potential for development in agriculture and plantations, one of which is the good impact of livestock trampling that can produce manure that can be used as organic fertiliser and can be used for the agricultural/plantation sector.
The creation of the PerDes is based on the importance of village regulations that regulate community life, one of which is influenced by the close social relations between farmers that make PerDa number 13 of 2011 concerning livestock control not work because garden owners or people who suffer losses from livestock that are released do not dare or hesitate to secure livestock belonging to their relatives, while the release of livestock is the main reason many residents do not maximise agricultural or plantation land because of the considerable costs of fencing the land or the condition of livestock during the dry season which is increasingly destructive.
Ending the meeting, Sarif Hidayat as the Sabu Raijua Project Manager emphasised the importance of awareness of all parties to understand village regulations so that the ideals of food self-sufficiency will be quickly realised "That the importance of awareness of all parties to the birth of this perdes is the need to understand the problems, potential and strategies that exist in the village to encourage the creation of the welfare of the village community through optimising good livestock rearing, increasing its added value in order to create food independence in the field of livestock and village agriculture".