Fine vines: A worker dries rattan in Katingan regency, Central Kalimantan, so it can be sold at a higher price.(JP/Andi M Ibu Aqil)

Every day, Muliyana carries a round rattan basket with a sickle on her back and goes to a plot of land in Rangan Surai village in Katingan, Central Kalimantan, to harvest durian, jackfruit and bamboo. Now, a non-timber forest product that Katingan is renowned for has been added to her list of harvested goods: rattan.

To harvest rattan, Muliyana uses a 2-hectare plot of land legally registered under her husband’s name. Trees and rattan are planted together along with other plants on the land.

She registered last month to become a member of the Katingan Rattan Farmers Association (P2RK) as rattan is one of the plants that can grow on her family’s land.

“Previously, the price [of rattan] was not steady. Because of that, I didn’t harvest rattan much,” Muliyana told The Jakarta Post during a visit to the rattan-producing village with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Indonesia.

Now, the price is more stable thanks to assistance provided by the association, allowing Muliyana to harvest up to 50 kilograms daily.

Established in 2011, P2RK is a community of rattan farmers that received in 2017 a certificate from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for harvesting without damaging the environment and helping to prevent deforestation. It also indicates that buyers have the ability to track where their purchased rattan came from and from which landowner.

P2RK secretary-general Oskar N. Suka said the farming group had 271 members who owned a total 609 ha of land in Katingan regency.

He said a lot of other farmers were interested in joining P2RK and currently in the process of doing so by taking care of administrative work.

“We can actually say that all [rattan farmers] in Katingan are members of P2RK. But [the 271 members] are those who already have legal ownership of their land. A member of P2RK must at least have a girik [customary land appointment certificate],” Oskar said.

He said all P2RK members were smallholders, owning 2 to 3 ha of land.

“We are smallholders, but we are certified and we also harvest responsibly,” Oskar said.

He said the FSC stipulated that P2RK members should practice environmentally friendly practices by not fully clearing their land of trees before growing rattan.

“We don’t harvest everywhere at once, and we also set up a quota of 30 tons of product a month based on the potential and area of land of the P2RK farmers,” Oskar said.

He said members of P2RK were immediately granted the collective FSC certification, which would help them to sell their rattan, either individually or with assistance from P2RK.

“We are trying to improve the price of rattan in the market because it is still too low [for farmers]. In the 1970s, a kilogram of rattan could buy a kilogram of rice. The farmers long for those days again,” Oskar said.

He said that, currently, P2RK members could enjoy around Rp 1,700 (12 US cent) per kg for their wet and unprocessed rattan while the market price of rattan could be even lower.

To receive a higher price for their rattan, the farmers must smoke it with sulfur for three days then dry it in the sun for another three days to produce the type of look that is typically sought after by rattan craft producers.

Smoked and dried rattan could fetch up to Rp 6,800 per kg in the market but also lose at least 60 percent of its initial weight, Oskar said.

Farmers say their bargaining position has improved with P2RK. In addition to helping them to get a better price for their products, the group members can also reach out to furniture companies that want raw materials from ecofriendly producers. One of their customers is Swedish manufacturer IKEA.

However, the farmers still struggle with issues over access, as rattan farmers in Katingan are located in hard-to-reach areas accessible only by using makeshift dirt roads and crossing the Katingan River.

The farmers are also constrained by Trade Ministerial Regulation No. 35/2011, which bans the export of unprocessed rattan.

Katingan is also dependent on rattan craft production centers, such as those in Cirebon, West Java.

According to 2018 data from the Central Kalimantan Production Forest Management Office and WWF Indonesia, rattan in Katingan is available on 104,572.23 ha of land, with an estimated annual potential of wet rattan production at 136,028 tons and dry rattan at 12,695 tons.

Katingan Cooperative, Micro and Small Business and Industry Agency head Sabtul Anwar said that in 2014 the central government constructed a warehouse loan facility to help the farmers.

He said the regency was also currently trying to procure a warehouse building in Cirebon to help rattan farmers in Katingan to reach out to rattan craft industries.

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