Indonesia’s Digi-Agri Revolution

By Karlis Salna and Nara Pernama

Mount Gede, West Java, Indonesia - On the slopes of Mount Gede, an active volcano on Indonesia's main island of Java, farmer Wawan Sudrajat sits on a bamboo platform amid a patchwork of fields brimming with vegetables. Volcanic deposits have enriched the soil here with magnesium and potassium, making it extremely fertile.

Yet, it's never been as productive as it is now as Sudrajat and many more farmers like him increasingly turn to digital tools to grow their business.

Like his father and generations of his family that came before, farming is in Sudrajat's blood. While like them his back often aches at the end of a long day in the fields, there are some stark contrasts. Instead of hauling what he grows down to the village to sell, the traditional market has been replaced by a smartphone. With one swipe, he has instant access to a host of data which helps him plan his next crops, and he has greater access to Indonesia's booming grocery market, estimated to be worth US$120 billion.

Sayurbox vegetable sorting hub in West Java, Indonesia. The start-up is helping to solve supply chain challenges for farmers. Photo by: Eka Nickmatulhuda/IFC

The 52-year-old is an example of how the disruptive power of the internet is empowering people and boosting their incomes along the way.

At the same time, tastes have changed in Indonesia as a growing middle class armed with greater purchasing power than ever has spurred demand for a greater variety of fruit and vegetables. Here, on the slopes of Mount Gede, tea plantations have given way to rows of kale, black corn, and a Japanese variety of spinach, along with other vegetables you might more commonly find in salads sold in the hipster cafes of Los Angeles.

The kale earns Sudrajat about 15,000 rupiah (about US$1) per kilogram. That's much better than the cabbage he used to grow. It might not seem like much, but Sudrajat said that for him, it's been life changing. "I didn't even know what kale was a few years ago," he said. "I make three times more money than I did before."

It's not just what is grown that has changed. How food gets from farm to plate is being transformed by technology too. Sudrajat is one of 33 million farmers in Indonesia that rely on e-commerce and companies like Sayurbox, a farm-to-plate start-up which connects him directly to an online customer base.

Some of what he produces on the small patch of land he leases from the government - about 1,200 square meters - is destined for tables in upmarket restaurants in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, some 50 miles away. The rest will be bought by Indonesians who increasingly demand organic produce and prefer to do their shopping online, a trend that has surged amid the COVID-19 pandemic.