The Bah Bolon Watershed, located in the district of Simalungun, North Sumatra, covers an area of 197,679 hectares. The watershed originates from Toba Lake and empties into the Strait of Malacca. Rge watershed provides water for thousand people, as well as livestock, agriculture, industries, and water utilities in multiple regions.
Like many other watersheds in Indonesia, Bah Bolon faces various natural and human-induced threats. Pollution, deforestation, land use changes, poor land management practices, overdevelopment, and climate change are degrading the quantity and quality of raw water and disrupting the ecosystem and biodiversity in these water catchment areas.
USAID IUWASH Tangguh works at both national and local government levels to address issues related to climate change adaptation, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and water resources management (WRM). The project’s interventions include facilitating policies and regulations, providing technical assistance, and building capacity in partnership with government agencies, service providers, and communities.
USAID IUWASH Tangguh collaborated with Indonesia’s Climate and Meteorological Agency (BMKG) and the district agriculture office in Simalungun to co-host a “climate school” training program for local farmers’ groups in Bandar Damanik village. Through a series of classroom and field training sessions, the program aimed to help farmers understand climate change impacts and gain practical skills and information about adaptation and mitigation. From August to September 2023, experts from the three institutions taught 18 farmers’ groups, how to assess rainwater trends, manage soil, and implement conservation farming techniques.
Farmers in the area plant rice and cash crops like corn, chili pepper, ginger, and coffee. Agun Satria Silalahi, a lifelong farmer, highlighted that the training increased their knowledge about conservation and climate adaptation. “We learned how to measure rainfall, select crops for different weather conditions, preserve water sources, and plant conservation crops to prevent landslides and stabilize stream banks.
Agun and other participants practiced measuring and recording rainfall using an ombrometer (rainfall measuring instrument) and report the data to the agency every ten days. The BMKG will inform farmers of the monthly weather forecast so they can select which crops to plant.
Training participants learned sustainable agriculture techniques that not only preserve water and soil but also optimize yields. These techniques can be used alone or in combination. For example, farmers can apply crop rotation, where different types of crops are planted in the same field in sequence and adjusted to local conditions. They can also combine this with multi-cropping by planting two or more kinds of plants, or practice agroforestry by integrating trees and shrubs into the land.
The climate school is also shaping social relations among farmers. They no longer plant monoculture rice crops, which create water management issues because rice fields require a large amount of water. “In the past, everyone planted rice at the same time. There was just not enough water to irrigate everyone’s paddy fields, leading to conflicts,” said Agun. Today, crop rotation and better irrigation management have helped resolve this age-old conflict.
Climate change has made the village more susceptible to drought, and the farmers’ groups are keen to retain as much water as possible to meet the needs of the farmers and the larger community. Therefore, it is critical that Agun and other farmers band together to protect their water resources through these climate-resilient mitigation and adaptation techniques. “We have an abundant water supply, but it won’t last if we don’t start conserving it,” said Agun.
Available in 
