In 2000, Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM) in Indonesia undertook an extensive village baseline study (VBLS) that systematically examined the livelihoods and resources of the villages in the vicinity of KEM's operation. The VBLS identified a number of issues associated with KEM's closure including the potential for food shortages among people living in 28 local villages where agricultural activity did not satisfy local needs and where the mine was a significant source of direct and indirect income.

In 2001 KEM initiated its Food Security Programme to mitigate the risk of closure related food shortages. The aim of the programme was to train and assist groups of farmers to open up a total of 420 hectares across the 28 "at risk" villages using simple but productive changes to their farming practices. The programme targeted the development of five hectares per year per village over three years.

Although soil in the local area is generally very fertile, it is naturally acidic and highly compacted. These factors significantly limit yields obtained from traditional growing methods and generally require the use of slash and burn agriculture. By ploughing the land to open up the soil structure and adding lime to decrease the acidity, yields can consistently be increased by 300 per cent (and more than 500 per cent in some cases). A positive side effect of the programme is also the reduced need for environmentally destructive slash and burn agriculture. Working against the programme is the difficulty of the initial investment in manually clearing the area of fallen timber and stumps.

The programme requires significant investment of time and effort by the participating community groups. The training covers organisational and management skills development as well as technical training and assistance. These provide capacity for the groups to sustain their programmes following mine closure.

Although the program was initiated by and is supported by KEM, the training and implementation is carried out by Yayasan Anum Lio (formerly the Rio Tinto Foundation). This will allow continued support of this program after KEM's closure.

At the end of 2003, 111 hectares were in production and an additional 122 hectares committed to the programme. The initial programme was formulated using an estimated increase in yield from 330-340 kilograms of milled rice per hectare from traditional growing methods to 530 kilograms. This has proven to be very conservative indeed with a harvest of 1,000 kilograms per hectare already achieved.

Not surprisingly, now that people have seen the results, there is much more community interest in the programme, with some people willing to pay for the assistance. This being the case, KEM's programme may be the catalyst to changes in farming practices that will provide far reaching social and environmental benefits.