Realizing food security through the development of urban farming to support the family economy during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Food is a basic need for humans. Since March 2020, Covid-19 has been detected in Indonesia, which is feared to have an impact on food availability. Banten is a province that is included in Priority Category 3 in handling food insecurity. Cilegon is one of the cities in the Banten Province that is experiencing shrinkage of agricultural land. The purpose of this research is to formulate an urban farming development strategy in Cilegon. The method used in this research is the survey method. This type of research is descriptive, namely research that interprets the factors with the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis method to produce strategies that can support the development of urban farming. The number of samples is 22 residents who carry out urban farming in Ramanuju Baru, Cilegon. The results showed that the internal factor that became the strength was the residents having high motivation and initiative in carrying out urban farming, while the internal factor that became the weakness was the limited knowledge of the residents in developing urban farming from an economic perspective. The results of research from external factors that become opportunities are Cilegon Government Policies in realizing food security, while the threats are pests and diseases in urban farming plants that need to be controlled naturally. Based on the analysis of internal and external factors using the SWOT matrix, the strategy to develop urban farming in Cilegon is to collaborate with the government and urban farming experts to provide consistent assistance to make urban farming activities in Cilegon economically valuable. To realize food security in Cilegon, collaboration is needed in aiding the community to manage urban farming professionally, so that it can provide economic value for the community.