Nutmeg, the Livelihood of the Fakfak People
Alfons and Aminah produce about 10,000 to 40,000 nutmeg seeds per harvest season. The nutmeg production varies depending on the season, spacing, care and age of the trees.
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Mercy Kabes collects nutmeg that has been picked from her garden in Wurkendik Village, West Fakfak District, Fakfak Regency, West Papua, Monday (21/6/2021).
Nutmeg has long been a part of the life of the people of Fakfak, West Papua. Unfortunately, the development of this commodity is hampered by a number of factors.
For married couple Alfons Kabes, 51, and Aminah Ahek, 46, nutmeg is like a mother who always provides a livelihood for the children. In Pang Wadar village, Kokas district, Fakfak regency, West Papua, the couple grow as many as 60 nutmeg trees in their farming area.
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The people of Fakfak call nutmeg henggi. For local people such as Alfons and Aminah, nutmeg is the livelihood of their families. Earnings from the sales of the nutmeg are used to meet their daily needs, send their children to school and repair their houses.
The nutmeg trees are so valuable to the local residents that no one dares to cut down them. "If someone cuts a nutmeg tree, it's the same as destroying their pride," said Alfons at the end of June 2021.
The man, who also grows as many as 100 nutmeg trees in Patipi Bay, is the fifth generation of his family to work as a nutmeg farmer. Apart from Alfons, his parents, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunt also work as nutmeg farmers. Parents usually divide the land for nutmeg plantations equally among their daughters and sons.
Alfons and Aminah produce about 10,000 to 40,000 nutmeg seeds per harvest season. The nutmeg production varies depending on the season, spacing, care and age of the trees. Apart from these factors, Aminah believes, what happens in the family can also affect crop yields.
Mercy Kabes, 42, a nutmeg farmer in Wurkendik village, West Fakfak district, acknowledged that nutmeg had been the source of her family's income for generations.
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Nutmeg still covered with mace in a collector's warehouse in Fakfak District, Fakfak Regency, West Papua, Monday (21/6/2021).
That afternoon, Mercy took a tour of her nutmeg plantation near her house. The plantation inherited by Mercy's parents was covered with weeds. However, among them, many nutmeg trees of about 8 meters in height grew well.
"These nutmeg trees have supported our family," said Mercy at the end of June 2021.
The nutmeg harvest season in Fakfak occurs twice a year, the first around April and the second in October. During the harvest season, people spend weeks in the forest picking nutmeg fruit.
Superior commodity
Fakfak regency is one of the main nutmeg producing areas in West Papua, in addition to Kaimana. Fakfak nutmeg (Myristica argantea Warb), commonly called “state nutmeg”, is generally produced by smallholder plantations.
The skin of the young fruit is smooth, but it develops brown spots when it gets older.
Fakfak nutmeg trees are tall with lush leaves. The shape of the fruit and seeds is quite distinctive, namely in the form of an oval fruit with a beak. The skin of the young fruit is smooth, but it develops brown spots when it gets older.
Hundreds of years ago, nutmeg was a superior commodity sought after in various parts of the world. Originally, this nutmeg did not come from Fakfak, but from small islands in the middle of the Banda Sea in modern southern Maluku.
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An old nutmeg looks broken and still hanging from a tree in Wurkendik Village, West Fakfak District, Fakfak Regency, West Papua, Sunday (20/6/2021).
According to the 2020 book Menimbang Pala: Asa di Pasar Eropah (Weighing Nutmeg: Hope in European
Markets), in 1511, the Portuguese landed in the Banda Islands. These islands included several small islands, including Banda Neira, Banda Besar, Run, Ai, Nailaka, Hatta and Syahrir. Run Island, at that time, produced a large amount of nutmeg from nutmeg trees grown in dense forests.
Then how did the nutmeg reach Fakfak? The Mbaham Matta tribal community in Patipi Bay, Fakfak, believes that the spread of nutmeg in the Fakfak forest was assisted by five nutmeg-eating birds. The five birds are wamar, tuktukmur, duktubur, wapour and tjerah. From the bird droppings scattered everywhere, young nutmeg trees emerged (Kompas, 25/11/2011).
For a long time, nutmeg has been an important part of the life of the Fakfak community. Based on data from the Fakfak Plantation Office, more than 90 percent of the indigenous people of Fakfak rely on nutmeg for their livelihoods. The nutmeg plantations are scattered in at least 15 of the 17 districts in Fakfak.
The head of the Fakfak Plantation Office, Abdul Rahim Patamasya, said local residents produced about 2,000 tons of nutmeg seeds a year. With this production, the residents earned a total of Rp 160 billion. "That's the money in circulation. It does not become regional income unless the money is spent," said Abdul.
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However, the utilization of nutmeg commodities is still not optimal. Nutmeg has long been known only as a spice, although it can be used for other purposes. From a nutmeg tree, there are seeds, flesh, mace, stems and leaves, which can be used for many purposes.
However, so far, the majority of nutmeg farmers still sell nutmeg seeds and mace, while the nutmeg flesh is simply thrown away. “The meat here is not processed. Most of it is thrown away. So we peel [the fruit], then throw it away [the flesh]. It's a pity," said Mercy.
Abdul acknowledged that the use of the nutmeg flesh had not been optimal because of a lack of education about its uses. It should be the task of the government to educate the people, he added.
Production declining
Apart from the nonoptimal use of nutmeg, there are several other challenges in the development of the commodity in Fakfak, namely the declining yield of nutmeg.
For example, production fell to 2,301 tons in 2018 from 2,996 tons in 2017. The number further dropped to 1,900 tons in 2019 and 1,696 tons in 2020.
If you look at the data from the Fakfak Plantation Office, there has been a decline in nutmeg production in recent years. For example, production fell to 2,301 tons in 2018 from 2,996 tons in 2017. The number further dropped to 1,900 tons in 2019 and 1,696 tons in 2020.
The decline in the production occurred despite the increase in the nutmeg plantation areas, which continued to rise from 17,542 hectares in 2017 to 17,742 hectares in 2018, to 17,792 hectares in 2019 and 17,917 hectares in 2020.
The decline in nutmeg yields was also felt by farmers in almost all hamlets in Fakfak. In October, 2020, for example, Mercy Kabes harvested about 1 ton of nutmeg from her plantations. The number fell from between 2 and 3 tons in 2016.
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Part of the nutmeg harvest in Wurkendik Village, West Fakfak District, Fakfak Regency, West Papua, Monday (21/6/2021).
The decline in production partly occurred because of the lack of rejuvenation in the smallholder nutmeg plantations. With this concern, Mercy began to take the initiative to grow new nutmeg trees.
Meanwhile, Abdul said the production of nutmeg remained low because the plantation was still managed traditionally. The local residents still relied on traditional techniques and equipment passed down from generation
to generation. With limited knowledge, the residents grew the nutmeg trees at a distance of about 2 to 3 meters apart. In fact, for maximum results the distance from one tree to another should be at least 10 meters.
It is feared that the continued decline in crop yields could threaten the existence of nutmeg plantations in Fakfak. The World Conservation Agency (IUCN) has even categorized the Fakfak nutmeg tree as a plant species vulnerable to extinction.
According to the IUCN, Fakfak nutmeg is at a high risk of extinction because most of the nutmeg trees in the region are found inside logging concessions. Some are even adjacent to oil palm concessions. Forest fires are also predicted to threaten the existence of nutmeg.
The government is also trying to increase the added value of nutmeg by encouraging people to be willing to process the meat, seeds and flowers.
According to Abdul, in order to strengthen the nutmeg economic chain, interventions are needed in the form of expansion of plantation areas, increasing business capacity and rehabilitation. The government is also trying to increase the added value of nutmeg by encouraging people to be willing to process the meat, seeds and flowers.
So far, the development of processed products is still constrained by a number of factors, such as the difficulty
of obtaining a permit for production houses, the availability of raw materials and people's mindsets. Most of the Fakfak farmers still sell raw materials and are not yet interested in processing nutmeg fruit and seeds in order to generate added value.
Drying of nutmeg seeds at Sajili's UD Spices nutmeg processing facility in Balandongan Village, Caringin District, Bogor Regency, West Java, Thursday (27/8/2020).
To that end, the local government has promised to train local farmers. Thus, it is hoped that the added value of nutmeg will gradually increase.
Fakfak Regent Untung Tamsil said nutmeg had become part of the identity of the Fakfak people, as people had long depended on nutmeg for their livelihoods from generation to generation. "Therefore, the government will pay serious attention to nutmeg so that it can provide greater benefits to the community," said Untung.
(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)
