On April 24th, 2025, a significant shift in the Lumbung Land process unfolded through a structured dialogue that moved from identifying collective activities to detailing the mechanisms that enable these practices to thrive. Under the theme “From what we do to how we do it”, the day was divided into two key moments: the first focused on broader reflections around collaboration and potential activities, and the second dedicated to defining concrete actions and implementation strategies.
At the heart of the conversation stood Gubuak Kopi, presenting the Pusako Tinggi model—an inheritance structure where the highest form of legacy is passed through the maternal line. Within this matrilineal system, ownership is connected not only to land use but also to intergenerational stewardship. The uncle acts as manager, while the eldest maternal figure makes final decisions, establishing a form of governance rooted in trust and lineage. Economic use of land includes rental arrangements contributing to household income, particularly for communal housing, as well as the harvest, which supports operational and communal needs.
The harvest, in turn, is divided among four rankyang or granaries:
- Operational needs
- Daily consumption
- Emergency fund (transferred to community charity if unused)
- Seeds (for future planting and sustainability)
Borders of the land remain uncodified by state certifications, reinforcing a relational governance model. Clans mirror each other’s land ownership through shared pieces of territory, establishing symbiotic relationships that blur traditional ownership boundaries and affirm interconnectedness.
This meeting also acknowledged JAF as a foundational space where the Lumbung Land Shelter can begin to materialize. Income from the shelter could be integrated into the collective economic pot, aligning with three main financial mechanisms: funding, income generation, and shared currency. Archiving emerged as a vital form of economic and cultural expression, with a shared emphasis on storytelling, documentation, and knowledge transmission.
A rotating fund model was proposed, acting both as a booster for action and a shared responsibility. It may take two forms:
- Contributions from individuals (ideas and money)
- Collective applications for external funding
This financial approach would support a larger study group program, comprised of three key areas:
- Traditional and local medicine
- Income generation practices rooted in land-based knowledge
- Archiving, including oral storytelling and community-based historical documentation
Each Lumbung Land collective presented concrete plans and aspirations:
Wajukuu
Will: Continue sharing plans, tools, and traditional knowledge with the broader network. Wajukuu is actively engaging in creative forms of learning inspired by traditional practices, such as developing comic books and archiving the voices of elders through transcriptions and storytelling—Archiving through Baku Konek.
Wish: Establish infrastructure to support its growing activities, including the construction of a building that houses a workspace, shelter for sheep, sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and a meeting area. These spaces are essential to sustaining both daily functions and communal gatherings.
JaF (Jatiwangi art Factory)
Will: Build shelters and infrastructure, particularly a nursery on Perhutana Land.
Wish: Initiate a skincare project using clay products and ensure integration of Lumbung Land into local five-year development planning. Majalengka can be the test case for ideas that we want to test out.
Pasir Putih
Will: Archive documents, maintain agroforestry systems, and conserve both lifescape and landscape.
Wish: Design a conservation plan to protect 200 hectares with support from ecological experts (like Baba). Include sustainable practices such as beekeeping.
Molemo
Will: Archive indigenous foods through creative means such as wrapping paper, websites, and publications. Engage in infrastructure work including irrigation and land documentation.
Wish: Scale these practices to a larger territorial model.
Gubuak Kopi
Will: Develop integrated farming systems grounded in traditional knowledge. Explore legal strategies to protect sacred land and secure Pusako inheritance.
Wish: Access to legal expertise and support in designing a 3,500m² space.
Rumah Cikaramat
Will: Continue Baku Konek, an initiative archiving marginalized local knowledge including medicinal plants and bamboo weaving. Test new products with villagers.
Wish: Develop a school for local knowledge, integrating people, land, and culture. Seek infrastructure to support workshops, learning spaces, and tools such as brick machines.
Inland
Will: Develop a food lab, archive local food practices, and initiate community-supported agriculture.
Wish: Restore shepherds’ huts as potential Lumbung Embassies.
Voedselpark
Will: Establish a cooperative of farmers and chefs, using shared cooking practices as a method for deepening connection and exchange.
Wish: Reclaim land through the Sunflower Protest, cultivating and redistributing sunflower seeds as a symbol of shared cultivation and resistance.
Common Ground Across Collectives
Shared Will: Continue the archiving efforts and maintain blueprint folders for land and activities.
Shared In-Between (Will/Wish): Develop a communal pantry and apothecary system.
Shared Wish: Strengthen access to expertise, improve construction and infrastructure capacities.
Methodologies of archiving are evolving, embracing oral histories, recipe documentation, and other vernacular forms of knowledge gleaning. Each collective project will involve expert guidance, whether in soil regeneration, agroforestry, traditional law, or environmental planning.
Conclusion
The April 24th session marked a pivotal moment of synthesis between vision and implementation. Each node of the Lumbung Land network is not only working toward tangible outputs—buildings, blueprints, products—but also nurturing the invisible scaffolding of relationships, trust, and shared learning. The focus is not only on what we do, but critically on how we do it—together.
