Documentary Short · Agrarian Reform & Agroecology · 2026
Through the experience of one woman farmer in Indramayu, a story of land reclamation, agroecological rice, farmer organisation, and the rebuilding of a local food economy comes into view.
About the Film
When Land Returns to Farmers
A Farmer’s Story of Agroecological Resilience in Indonesia follows a woman farmer in Indramayu, West Java, whose life is connected to a wider struggle for agrarian reform and food sovereignty.
Her story is situated in a territory where peasants organised with Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) reclaimed land and began rebuilding agricultural production through agroecological practices.
The film looks at what happens after land is reclaimed: how it is farmed, how knowledge changes, how production is organised, and how farmers attempt to create an economy that can sustain both families and communities.
Logline
A woman farmer in Indramayu tells a larger story of peasants reclaiming land and rebuilding their food system through agroecological rice, cooperation, and collective organisation.
Synopsis
From Agrarian Struggle to Agroecological Rice
The film begins with a farmer whose everyday work carries the history of a much larger struggle.
In Indramayu, access to land was not simply given. Farmers organised, struggled, and reclaimed territory that had been shaped by industrial agricultural production.
The return of land opened another challenge: how to produce food without rebuilding the same dependencies on chemical fertilisers, pesticides, external inputs, and market intermediaries.
Agroecology becomes part of that answer. Rice production is connected to natural inputs, ecological knowledge, diversification, farmer organisation, and cooperatives that strengthen control over both production and distribution.
Central Question
What happens after farmers reclaim their land?
Agrarian reform does not end with access to territory. The next challenge is to make that land sustain life, food, dignity, local economies, and the independence of future generations.
Agrarian Reform
Land as the Beginning, Not the End
Land is the material foundation of farming, but access to land alone does not guarantee food sovereignty.
Farmers must also decide what to grow, how to cultivate it, where seeds and fertilisers come from, how harvests are distributed, and who benefits from the food economy.
The Indramayu experience connects agrarian reform to these larger questions of production, organisation, and community control.
Women and Agroecology
Resilience through Everyday Work
The film approaches this transformation through the experience of a woman farmer.
Women’s agricultural work is connected not only to rice cultivation, but also to seeds, food preparation, household nutrition, crop diversification, and the everyday economy of farming families.
Seen from this perspective, agroecological resilience is built through repeated daily decisions about soil, food, work, family, and the future of the land.
Agroecological Transition
Reducing Dependency on Chemical Inputs
Farmers in the region describe the transition away from intensive dependence on chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
Compost, biological fertilisers, locally produced pest controls, crop rotation, and diversification make it possible to rebuild fertility while reducing the cost of production.
Agroecology therefore becomes both an ecological practice and an economic strategy for strengthening farmer independence.
Rice and Food Sovereignty
Growing a Staple, Rebuilding an Economy
Rice is more than a commodity in this story.
It connects land, labour, nutrition, culture, markets, and the everyday food security of millions of people.
Producing agroecological rice gives farmers an opportunity to connect the struggle for land with the struggle to determine how food is produced and where it goes.
Farmer Cooperatives
Beyond the Harvest
Farmer organisation continues after production.
Through cooperatives, farmers can participate in processing, distribution, marketing, and the organisation of relationships with consumers.
These structures reduce dependence on intermediaries and make it possible to keep more economic value within farming communities.
Documentary Approach
A Larger History through One Farmer
The documentary does not begin with statistics or institutions. It begins with one farmer.
Her experience provides a human entry point into larger questions of agrarian reform, agroecology, food sovereignty, and farmer organisation.
By staying close to everyday agricultural work, the film connects structural change to the people who experience that change through land, labour, crops, and family life.
Production Context
Filmed during the Asia Learning Exchange
The documentary was filmed during the Agroecology Fund’s Asia Learning Exchange on Agroecology Economies in April 2025.
The exchange concluded with a visit to the Food Sovereignty Area of Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) in Indramayu, where participants met farmers and learned directly from their experience of agrarian reform, agroecology, and cooperative organisation.
Project Information
Film Details
Title
A Farmer’s Story of Agroecological Resilience in Indonesia
Format
Documentary short
Filmed
April 2025
Published
2026
Location
Indramayu, West Java, Indonesia
Produced by
Agroecology Fund · Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI)
Director & Screenwriter
Tamara Espinoza
Cinematography & Sound
Kalfein Wuisan · Eko Krisna
Editor
Kalfein Wuisan
Main themes
Agrarian reform · Agroecology · Women farmers · Rice · Food sovereignty ·
Farmer cooperatives
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