Article written by: Kaoem Telapak
on July 30, 2025
No Comments

Story of Supangat: Farming Without Farming Tools

‘Farming without farming tools’ isn’t a common phrase, but that perfectly sums up Supangat in his journey of career and supporting the financial welfare of the community in Ngaliyan Village, Kulon Progo.

Supangat is a Kaoem Telapak member in Kulon Progo, Special Region of Yogyakarta whose daily activity involves working with 25 farmers in a farmer group called Sido Dadi Group. They collect their harvest and entrust their harvest to both traveling collectors and stationary baskets who then sell the harvest across Kulon Progo.

However, some things about Supangat’s daily life are intriguing. First of all, he himself is not among the farmers who tend the field with farming tool and only working behind the scene. Secondly, their harvest doesn’t consist of one or two types of plants across the year, but rather a diverse selection of seasonal plants that they change accordingly such as woods, banana, cloves, and cardamoms.

“That’s why I call myself ‘The farmer without farming tools.’ I much prefer managing the harvest and our financial,” said Supangat.

In addition to Sido Dadi, Supangat also founded Forest Farmers Group which consists of 21 members. Once again, he is more actively involved behind the scene to help the planning and operational in order to support the conservation of the community forest as well as Ngaliyan Village’s water source, considering the region is frequently facing drought.

Consulting for a career

Based on the story from the two groups, it’s clear that Supangat has more passion as a consultant, whether it’s for the community movements or his own career. Outside of farming, Supangat is also a Consultant for Farghani Consulting, a consulting firm focused in development.

As a figure who’s aware of nature and community welfare, he frequently acts as a mediator in a development project to mitigate conflicts with the community within a particular area and prevent the destruction of their natural resource.

In addition to becoming a consultant, Supangat is also working for a number of Islamic institutions. He is a chicken farmer for a poultry farm belonging to the Wiwin Muslimah Orphanage Foundation and became the founder of Madrasah Diniyah Takmiliyah Al-Hikmah that is currently managed by one ustad and one ustadzah.

Taking advantage of his experience and talent as a consultant, Supangat is also involved in the foundation of a number of community organizations in Kulon Progo.

Apart from the Sido Dadi and Forest Farmers Groups, Supangat also joined the SATUNAMA Foundation from 2007-2009. Then, he became one of the co-founders of Wana Lestari Menoreh Cooperation (KWLM).

Coffee and cardamom harvested by farmers in Ngaliyan Village, Kulon Progo. Photo by Supangat.

Encounter with Kaoem Telapak

At the time he was active with Wana Lestari Menoreh Cooperation, Supangat met the Kaoem Telapak people in 2012 during the time they had a campaign against illegal logging in Kulon Progo for four years.

Back then, Supangat felt a sense of compatibility with Kaoem Telapak and decided to join the organization. He said, “There are values of Kaoem Telapak that synchronize with me so well, hence I began taking more focus on supporting the campaign.”

As time went on, Supangat gained experiences and valuable lessons which shaped his interest in organizations to this very day.

“With Kaoem Telapak, I learned about diplomacy with the others, learned how to communicate with people, and learned how to build communication. From there, I was able to connect different people from different communities and manage multiple issues, such as being a mediator for the Wiwin Muslimah Foundation,” Supangat explained.

“Point is, I’m a lot more confident now,” he continued.

Building sustainable welfare for the community

Supangat attended the foundation of Kaoem Telapak in Sarongge as well as the 2016 Grand Camp. When he attended the 2025 Grand Camp, he was surprised to see so many youths who attended and mobilized for the nature conservation issues, much more than nine years ago.

This phenomenon is also reflected in Supangat’s hometown as well. Fact is, the people of Ngaliyan Village is currently in partnership with Pangudi Luhur Van Lith Muntilan High School for a mushroom cultivation program like the oyster mushroom for the community’s personal consumption, of which many youths in the village participate in.

Through this program, the youths learn how to cultivate the mushrooms, create the package from the harvested mushrooms, and then sell the mushrooms to the market or individuals.

Seeing the spirit of the youth, Supangat hopes that his hard work will bear fruits; values that he can bequeath to the young generation. He also wants to continue working while guiding the youths in their fight for ecology.

“I want to bequeath the values of our fight to our young generation, not just the programs. By doing so, regardless of the programs, these youths can inherit these values which they then can bequeath to their future generations,” said Supangat.