In the Highlands of Borneo, a Seed of Agrotourism Takes Root
A budding model of agrotourism rooted in ecological wisdom and cultural pride. Photo credit: Rmsp. |
By Masri Sareb Putra
TANJUNG KARYA, Krayan Highlands — June 14, 2025
As an observer on the ground, I saw more than just a community gathering. I saw the early shape of something larger: a budding model of agrotourism rooted in ecological wisdom and cultural pride.
Hari Pertanian Organik (HPO) di Krayan - Krayan’s Organic Farming Day- if nurtured properly, could one day welcome not only local farmers and scholars, but visitors from across the world who seek to learn how sustainability and tradition can grow hand in hand.
Three years after it was last held in Long Layu, the Krayan Organic Farming Day (Hari Pertanian Organik, or HPO) returned this year in its 8th installment, taking place in the small village of Tanjung Karya, just 15 kilometers from the regional center of Long Bawan.
More than a celebration, the gathering has grown into a space of reflection and reaffirmation—an annual reaffirmation of the highland communities' commitment to environmentally responsible agriculture rooted in indigenous wisdom.
Farmers, traditional leaders, and youth from across the Krayan region came together, but this year’s most anticipated voice belonged to Dr. Yansen TP, a respected figure in the region and long-time advocate of sustainable rural development. His message, however, took a different tone than it had in 2022.
Dr. Yansen TP addressing farmers and youth during the 8th Krayan Organic Farming Day in Tanjung Karya. Photo credit: Rmsp. |
“Organic farming is not just about avoiding chemical fertilizers,” Dr. Yansen said, moments before taking the stage. “It is a living heritage. It is our identity. It is how we place nature within our cosmology, not as an object of exploitation, but as kin.”
In a region where red soil gives life to fragrant rice and cool mountain air shapes the rhythm of daily life, Dr. Yansen urged his listeners to confront new challenges, climate change, market pressures, and youth migration from farming, and to respond without losing sight of their core values.
“We must build a creative economy here in Krayan,” he said, “but it must stand on the foundation of our land’s richness and our ancestral knowledge.”
Keeping the Roots While Facing the Wind
For decades, Krayan has stood out in Borneo for its commitment to organic agriculture—a system that thrives not on imported inputs but on generational knowledge and ecological balance. But with the global food system rapidly shifting and external pressures mounting, the region’s future hinges on how these traditions evolve.
“The market demands fast crops, pretty packaging, and standardized yields,” Dr. Yansen said. “But Krayan's strength lies in its difference—its soil, its water, its collective work ethic, its soul.”
Visitors can enjoy free organic food at each exhibition booth representing the subdistricts. Photo credit: Rmsp.
Rather than resisting change, Dr. Yansen proposed a strategy of mindful adaptation—one where local communities embrace appropriate technologies not to erase their heritage but to enhance its sustainability. He encouraged the community to consider a simple but provocative question: What does Krayan lack?
“In truth,” he answered, “nothing. We have fertile land, clean rivers, breathable air, and a culture of mutual support. We need to stop asking what we need from outside and start building with what we already have.”
This philosophy underpins a larger vision: one where Krayan doesn’t just preserve organic farming as a tradition but refashions it into a model of self-reliant development. Not an imported blueprint, but a homegrown identity. A local economy not defined by extraction or exploitation—but by regeneration, culture, and dignity.
“Values can be inherited,” he added, “but they must also be reinterpreted. What we cannot lose is the spirit of respect—for land, water, and seed.”
A Moment of Intergenerational Reckoning
This year’s HPO also marked an important intergenerational moment. In between workshops and seed-sharing exhibitions, spontaneous conversations broke out under bamboo shelters and by the cooking fires. Young people asked hard questions: Who will farm after us? Will organic farming survive modern life?
There was no single answer. But the shared urgency gave the event a sense of intimacy and consequence.
Organic farming in Krayan is not merely a technique. It is an expression of cultural sovereignty. It is a response to the pressures of land conversion, agribusiness monocultures, and the creeping dependency on external goods. Amid these shifts, the people of Krayan remain intent on preserving their practices—not out of nostalgia, but as a pragmatic foundation for the future.
“If We Can’t Farm Like Our Ancestors, Who Are We?”
This rhetorical question, posed by Gat Khaleb, an organic farmer from Pa’ Upan, echoed throughout the gathering. On social media, Gat has become a voice for eco-conscious agriculture in the highlands. He often quotes Dr. Samuel Tipa Padan, a Lundayeh scholar and early champion of “building Krayan based on its natural resources.”
In Gat’s view, the true crisis is not technological or even economic—it is spiritual.
“When we lose our way of farming,” he said, “we lose ourselves.”
The Krayan Organic Farming Day, then, is more than a date on the calendar. It’s a quiet resistance.
A declaration that indigenous communities have a voice in the global conversation on food, ecology, and climate. A reminder that in the farthest corners of Borneo, a different model of growth: slower, rooted, and more humane, is not only possible but already alive. *)