In order to celebrate the Anniversary of Semarang City on May 2, the Semarang City Government carried out the Urban Farming Champion kick off on January 28, 2023 which would last until May 2023.
Urban Farming activities are one of the efforts to encourage community participation in the use of narrow lands to support and increase food security in the city of Semarang. This activity was attended by all OPD (Regional Apparatus Organizations), Districts, Villages and Schools (SD and SMP) throughout the City of Semarang.
As a support in the Urban Farming Champion activities, judges from a team of practitioners were appointed, namely Pratomo (Executive Director of the Obortani Foundation, Semarang City), Yudit Krismaryani (CV Bintang Permana), a team of academics, namely Prof. Dr. Nana Kariada Tri Martuti, M.Si. (Professor of Environmental Science at FMIPA UNNES), Septrial Arafat, S.P., M.P. (Lecturer of the Agroecotechnology Study Program FPP Undip), and the Semarang City Agriculture Service team, namely Mego Barbarito and Nur Kholis (BPTPH Central Java Province).
The judging activities that were participated in by the OPD, District and Undip Villages took place in 3 stages of selection, namely stage 1 selection (administration, files, photos, and videos), then stage 2 selection (demonstration plot) visits to activity locations, and stage 3 selection (presentation participants via Zoom Meeting). The judging activities that were attended at the elementary and junior high school levels took place in 2 stages, namely stage 1 (administration, files, photos, and videos), and stage 2 selection (demonstration plot) visits to activity locations.
The first stage of selection was carried out on March 6-10, 2023 then the second stage of selection was carried out on March 13-16, 2023, and the third stage of selection would be carried out on April 11-12 2023.
“The great potential of urban farming is to encourage the participation of urban communities to prevent a global food crisis, increase the comfort of life and aesthetic value in urban areas, optimize land use for economic growth and to ensure the preservation of natural resources or the environment, and make Semarang City a tourist destination which supports increasing income or community welfare,” said the young lecturer at the end of the session.
