Early into the pandemic, around mid 2020, we decided we wanted to add some rural country-side living to our lifestyle. So we decided to buy a plantation up into the mountains of central Bali, and regularly spend time there. Away from the busy south, away from traffic, away from noise pollution and away from too many taken-for-granted luxuries in life.

After a few months looking around for a location we ended up in the small village of Sanda, Pupuan, in November 2020. A village with only 400 families and total population of about 1,500 people, 95% of whom are farmers, from generation to generation. Not much had changed in the area and this is really traditional rural Bali as it has been for centuries. Most older people had been farming the same lands all their lives.

There was a small 2 by 5 meter traditional shack in the plantation, with bamboo walls and a sink roof. No toilet, no bathroom, and only a traditional wood-fire stove. The previous land owner, a small scale pig farmer, used to stay overnight here when his pigs had piglets.

So every weekend we drove to our plantation and stayed in the shack, under rather primitive conditions! But we soon started to enjoy the simplicity, being surrounded by green and 600 meters away from the nearest house in the village.

Weekends soon became long weekends, and then really long weekends..! We actually only went down south for 1 or 2 days in the middle of the week, to look after our office, see some clients and do some shopping. After about 6 months traveling back and forth to enjoy our plantation we decided to move permanently to our plantation. We decided to build a place to stay for family and friends who wanted to visit us, which became our safari-style Wani Tent. And we built a small wooden house for ourselves, with for the first time a proper bathroom and kitchen. Our plantation in Sanda became our new home!

Soon we grew closer and closer to the closed-knit local community, particularly to the farmers with plantations and rice fields along the same small road as ourselves. Every morning they walk or drive with their old motorbikes to heir fields, and every afternoon they went back to their home in the village. The average age of these farmers must be close to 70 years old, some can hardly walk… And most can’t drive a motorbike. They live a simple life, and their plantations and rice fields provide for almost everything they need. They live in simple houses, have no mobile phones, no TVs and still cook on a wood fire. But most of them also have no kids that want to step in their shoes… Their kids have different expectations and “needs”, and being a farmer as their parents is not enough to fulfill their “needs”. So most of the kids and nowadays pretty much all grandchildren seek greener grass in the south; working in restaurants, hotels, at the airport, as driver or guide.

Farming rice fields is labor intensive. Traditionally the entire family gets involved, particularly during the rice planting and harvest season, twice a year. When kids started to move out of the village the farmers started to help each other. But nowadays most of the farmers have grown old, forcing them to regularly  hire daily workers to help out. Most farmers can’t afford that though, so over time the rice farmers started to convert the rice fields into less labor-intensive plantations. Mostly with coffee, a crop that grows very well on the fertile slopes of the dormant Batukaru volcano. So over the last few decades the majority of rice fields here, as in many other places in Bali, have disappeared and been replaced by plantations.

Also our plantation used to be all terraced rice fields, all the way to the river! The only reminder of that are the actual terraces, and nicely lined up coconut trees that used to line the rice fields. Commercially speaking, a hectare of coffee plantation earns the farmer more or less the same as a hectare of rice fields, but with a lot less maintenance and manpower. But that’s only about 3,500 to 4,500 USD per year, before any costs!

As the farmers are getting older and older even managing a plantation is becoming to hard… Often leaving them with little choice than to sell their land, something their kids often encourage, as they will claim their share in the proceeds of the sale…

It became very clear to us that this is a one-way dead-end road. Eventually their will only be very few farmers left, and most of the land will end up in the hands of outsiders, mostly local or foreign investors, who all have their own intentions with the land. A villa, a resort, a large-scale mono-crop plantation, etc. The end of an era…

We did not come to Sanda with any specific intention other than for ourselves, to seek out a more simple rural life. Our life motto became “Less is More”, which I prefer to explain in person, rather than in writing..! We certainly did not come here with the intention to change people’s lives, or the environment. But that has all changed now. We hear too many sad stories from the old farmers. And sometimes from their kids, or grandchildren… Times have changed for the village, and the community. And not for the better. So we are now committed to do whatever we can to make things just a little better, starting with at least a few families here. We are working on 2 initiatives.

1: TOURISM

First of all we want to help farmers to earn more from their land. How? First of all by developing small-footprint sustainable and ecologically friendly tourism. Our hideaway is not a business. It’s hobby, and a pilot project. A show-case, to demonstrate to the community that their greatest asset, land, is worth much more than just a one-time price per are (an are is 100 square meters of land, and in Bali the common term used to refer to land size). With a relative small investment a farmer could earn much, much more than they will ever earn with almost any type of crop. Our Wani Tent cost less than USD 10,000 to build. We easily earned that back within the first year. Of course local farmers don’t have USD 10,000 to invest. But it doesn’t need a Wani Tent to start to earn significant extra income. Our Durian Tents are actually Decathlon tents. They cost only about USD 250. With a total investment of about USD 2,000 you have a very nice tent, with comfortable furniture, bathroom, etc. Or you can build a small but comfortable traditional bamboo or wooden hut, for the same money. And such a tent or hut earns itself back in much less than a year as well. Effectively a single tent or hut will earn the farmer more than a hectare of coffee plantation or rice fields.

But farmers here don’t even have USD 2,000 to invest… So that’s where we are going to help out. We will invest, and build a tent or hut on farmers’ land. It will become an extension of our Sanda Plantation Hideaway. We will take care of the sales and marketing; the farmer only looks after the tent or hut. We will train them. The initial income is for us: until we have earned back our investment. From then onwards 80% of the profit is for the farmer, while we continue to look after the sales and marketing. 

2: HIGHER VALUE CROPS.

Through higher value crops, such as for instance vanilla and higher valued avocado varieties.

By significantly increasing the income from the farmers’ land we hope that the younger generation starts to become interested again in actually looking after the land they will eventually inherit, rather than enjoying a short-lived and one-time only financial benefit if their parents sell the land. And become a new-era farmer, farming high value crops, or an entrepreneur in the sustainable tourism business.

WE NEED SUPPORT.

Our pockets are not very deep at all, and we love to move faster than we can just on our own. So we welcome anyone interested in supporting our cause to better the future of some really local rural farmer families here in Sanda. By for instance sponsoring a hut or tent. Sponsoring is not a financial investment. It’s an instant investment in helping a farmers family towards a more sustainable and socially more meaningful future. It will help families to stay and work together, as is Balinese culture.

Tri Hita Karana.

The “three causes/ways to happiness or harmony”. The philosophy itself encompasses the three most important aspects of life in Bali, which include God, humans, and nature, and places these three as a basis for development in Bali. It’s also often quoted as a basis for sustainable development!

Tri Hita Karana consists of three relationships:

The first is Parhyangan, or the relationship between a person and God. This is the basis for all the wonderful rituals held by the Balinese. God gives bounty to humans, and humans express their gratitude by honouring the gods through various rituals.

The second is Pawongan, or the relationship between a person and their neighbours. This is the basis for the community in Bali, often represented by banjars or sub- villages. A harmonious relationship with fellow humans is essential for prosperity. As social animals, humans can’t live on their own. Having good ties with other people is what makes society function. The spirit of pawongan is manifested in activities such as helping each other out during ceremonies.

Last but not least is Palemahan, or the relationships between a person and nature. This has become the basis for sustainable development in Bali. As nature provides for humans, humans must preserve nature in return. You might have heard of recycling events or coral reef preservation activities in Bali. That’s the spirit of palemahan in action! Even the simple act of watering plants and picking up litter is a great contribution to preserving nature.