In Indonesia, Sago Is a Symbol of Indigenous Identity and Food Resilience

In Indonesia’s South Sorong, Indigenous youth and women are turning an ancestral staple into higher-value food products while rebuilding forests and a restorative economy. 

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By Yunes Bonay 

In Singapore, sago is more familiar in desserts than as a story about forests, food resilience or Indigenous identity. Yet as consumers look beyond gluten-free labels to ask where ingredients come from and who benefits, this humble starch may have more to offer than texture. 

The global gluten-free market is projected to reach US$13.7 billion by 2034, while Asia Pacific demand could grow by as much as 11.1% annually between 2025 and 2030. Singapore’s plant-based food and beverage market is also forecast to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 6.97% over the same period, driven by health, environmental and ethical sourcing concerns. With no domestic sago cultivation, Singapore relies entirely on imports, making provenance increasingly relevant. 

One answer lies in South Sorong, in the Indonesian province of Southwest Papua. Here, sago is tied to land, identity, and the ancestral philosophy “Tabraw’o mamfe teme” (“The forest is our Mother”). Through the Merdesa Village School, known as SEKAM, young people and women are turning sago into flour, cookies, and cakes that support household incomes while protecting customary forests. 

When the Forest Is Mother 

Ewil Woloin, 23, is part of SEKAM, an initiative by Bentara Papua that involves village youth in managing natural resources. The Tehit Knasaimos community has cared for its sago forests for generations, protecting local varieties, including Falya dla (non-thorny), Fa Sampe (thorny), Fablen (coastal sago), and Fanomik (partially thorny). 

Illegal logging and timber expansion have tested that relationship, leaving parts of the forest barren. The community has also resisted palm oil development since 1996. Between 2018 and 2019, residents began planting sago in degraded areas to improve water absorption and restore the forest. 

“We tried to educate the community to replant the sago they cut and use barren forest land for reforestation. Our struggle has been long; since 1996, the community has consistently rejected palm oil to ensure this forest remains,” Woloin told Earth.Org. 

Women now help select seeds and maintain household food security, while youth involvement keeps gardening and forest-management knowledge from disappearing as younger residents leave for cities. 

From Sago to a Restorative Economy 

At the heart of the initiative is a restorative economy model, where income generated from the forest also helps sustain the people and ecosystems that protect it. Bentara Papua, a local social organization based in Manokwari dedicated to the fair, sustainable, and traditional management of natural resources, established the Sira Bentara Papua Station as a hub for agriculture, food processing, and organizational learning. Through the Tepung Sagu Mangsir brand, women and young people are producing durable sago flour and testing products including cakes, noodles, cendol, and cookies. 

“Our main goal is to prove they do not need to leave their hometown to prosper; it is enough to process what is on their own customary land,” said Alink Syafril, Coordinator of the Station.

Bentara Papua also supports permits, marketing and stronger community institutions so the products can reach wider markets without losing their purpose. 

“In addition to helping with product development mentorship, we also assist in obtaining product permits and mentoring marketing strategies. We also help build a restorative economic foundation where the financial profits gained will be cycled back to restore the forest and strengthen social cohesion in South Sorong,” Syafril added. 

The impact remains modest but meaningful. Sago sales have increased participating households’ average income by around IDR 1 million (US$56), helping pay for daily needs and education. Women and youth participation has risen by 60%, while the Kna Mandiri Cooperative, a local community-based enterprise, collects products for sale in Sorong City and at provincial exhibitions. 

More than five hectares of sago have also been replanted in degraded forest areas, helping revive 11 companion tree varieties and protect four superior local sago varieties. 

“Welfare does not have to come from destroying nature, but from how we honour what the sago forest has provided,” said Syafril. 

Woloin said their hope is that the community remains steadfast in guarding the forest. “The involvement of youth today is a guarantee that in the future, there will be no more barren forests and no more youth who lose their identity as indigenous children of Papua.”

For Singapore, where imported ingredients are increasingly judged by their origins, ethics, and environmental impact, the lesson extends beyond sago. South Sorong shows what a restorative economy can look like in practice: communities create greater value from what the forest sustainably provides, while directing that value back into household livelihoods, Indigenous knowledge and forest recovery. Here, economic resilience does not come at nature’s expense. It grows from restoring and protecting it. 

Feautured image: Bentara Papua Organisation.

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About the author: Yunes Bonay is an Indigenous young woman leader and head of Bentara Papua. With over 10 years of experience, she has advanced inclusive conservation and community empowerment across Papua’s forest landscapes. Her work focuses on youth leadership, agroecology, and Indigenous rights, supporting forest-dependent communities to develop local enterprises and establish village information systems that strengthen sustainable livelihoods. Most recently, under her leadership, Bentara Papua facilitated the recognition of nearly 100,000 hectares of Indigenous community forest land in Papua.