Letter: Give farmers hope

I refer to a news report titled “RI to apply for UN fund to help local farmers” (The Jakarta Post, April 21).

Almost 50 percent of Indonesians live from farming, and everybody in this country depends on this sector.

There is an indication that the government has a great interest in the farmers across this wide beautiful land. As part of a generation who grew up on paddy fields until I was 15 years old, I recognize that limited access to water for agricultural purposes is one of the sources of poverty of farmers in many of villages in this country. Therefore, many villagers have fled to urban areas in hope of a better future.  

The government needs to pay serious attention to the problem, particularly to discourage people from leaving their villages so that they can cultivate their agricultural lands.

May the government really do something so that there will be a hope for better future for our famers.
 
A.M. Karim
Bekasi, West Java