In May 2024, we hosted Rivan Rinaldi from Aceh, Indonesia, for a month-long fellowship through the State Department’s YSEALI (Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative) Professional Fellowship Program. Rivan worked with us at the Black Butterfly Farm, toured our member farms, attended Field Days and explored Baltimore City. This was our second time hosting a YSEALI fellow and participating in this valuable knowledge exchange program.
Since returning to Aceh, Rivan has founded his own nonprofit (Rumoh Pangan Aceh), inspired by our work. He is now collaborating directly with farmers to provide training and marketing opportunities, collect food donations, and offer educational programs to address food insecurity in the region.
To support Rivan’s efforts and share insights on urban agriculture in the U.S., we applied for the Reciprocal Exchange and traveled to Indonesia in January 2025.
After a full day and a half of travel, we arrived in Aceh, where we spent the next 10 days visiting farms, exchanging knowledge, speaking on a local podcast and concluding our trip by speaking at a seminar at the Agricultural University.
If you’d like to see the presentation we shared at the University click here. You can watch the podcast here.
Click the book below to view our photo slideshow!