From Wild Weed to Protein Powerhouse: How Acehnese Farmers and Local Initiatives Are Fighting Soybean Dependency with Sword Beans

BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA — Under the glaring equatorial sun, a group of farmers in Lamteuba Village, Greater Aceh Regency, methodically harvest the heavy pods of sword beans (Canavalia ensiformis). Locally known as kacang parang or simply koro, this indigenous legume has long been treated as a stubborn wild weed. Today, however, it is undergoing a quiet agricultural revolution.

Facing erratic climate patterns and a debilitating national dependence on imported soybeans, farmers across Aceh Besar, South Aceh, and Simeulue are turning away from traditional, fragile crops. Instead, they are embracing the sword bean as a climate-resilient, highly productive, and economically viable alternative to soy.

Main Facts: The Rise of the Sword Bean in Aceh

The shift toward cultivating Canavalia ensiformis marks a pivotal change in Acehnese agriculture. Historically, local residents relegated the sword bean to the wild. Only a small fraction of Lamteuba residents consumed it, often preparing it as a vegetable dish sautéed with u-neulheu—a traditional Acehnese culinary paste made from grated coconut roasted until golden, oily, and finely ground. Another local variety, known locally as reuteuk kacang parang, features identical pods and leaves but produces black seeds.

By 2025, more than 150 farmers had begun cultivating sword beans across Aceh Besar alone. Spearheaded by community initiatives and local non-profits, the movement has transformed neglected plots into thriving polyculture agroforestry systems.

Farmers like Ruhani and Cut Badriah have abandoned failing soybean and peanut plots in favor of the sword bean. Cultivated largely through an intercropping (tumpang sari) method, the plants share space with turmeric, galangal, pineapples, chili peppers, and peanuts. While waiting for the perennial beans to mature, farmers harvest auxiliary crops, ensuring a steady, diversified cash flow.

Chronology of a Grassroots Agricultural Shift

The modern cultivation wave gained formal momentum in late 2025, driven by the Yayasan Rumoh Pangan Aceh (RPA)—the Aceh Food House Foundation.

• December 2025: RPA launches a concerted initiative to promote sword bean tempeh (tempe koro). Recognizing the vulnerability of local food security to foreign market fluctuations, the foundation begins organizing farmers, establishing collection hubs, and providing agricultural mentorship across eight Acehnese regencies, with Aceh Besar serving as the epicenter.
• April 2026: Farmers like Ruhani and Cut Badriah establish their first large-scale sword bean plots. Ruhani plants 2,500 sword bean stalks across a quarter of her one-hectare farm, intercropping them with a wide variety of spices and root crops. Cut Badriah mirrors the approach on her one-hectare plot adjacent to four hectares of corn.
• Late July 2026: Ruhani records her maiden harvest, yielding 30 kilograms of sword bean pods in its fifth month. Subsequent harvests bring yields of 80 kilograms and counting, demonstrating the plant’s continuous bearing cycle.
• August 2026: Production ramps up at "Rumoh Tempe Nusa," processing facilities located in Alue Naga (Banda Aceh) and Naga Umbang (Aceh Besar). Women from local fishing and foraging communities are recruited and trained as specialized tempeh artisans, shifting from informal labor—such as harvesting wild oysters—to steady, structured employment.

Supporting Data: The Soybean Deficit and Sword Bean Potential

To understand why Aceh’s farmers are pivoting to sword beans, one must examine the fragility of Indonesia’s national soybean supply chain.

According to Ministry of Agriculture data, Indonesia’s national soybean production over the last five years has averaged a meager 227,000 tons annually, cultivated across roughly 136,000 hectares. Meanwhile, domestic demand is projected at an staggering 2.7 million tons. Consequently, the nation relies on imports for roughly 95% of its soybean needs.

Between January and July 2026 alone, Indonesia imported 5.84 million tons of soybeans, costing the nation approximately USD 2.5 billion.

Regionally, Java (East, Central, and West) dominates domestic production, while Aceh contributed a mere 1.9% to national output between 2021 and 2025. Data from the Agriculture System Database (BSDP) illustrates Aceh’s volatile soybean output:

• 2021: 882 tons
• 2022: 1,786 tons
• 2023: 11,604 tons
• 2024: 7,101 tons
• 2025: Plummeting drastically to just 26 tons

In contrast, the sword bean offers exceptional agronomic advantages. While local soybeans yield around one ton per hectare—selling for approximately Rp 15,000 per kilogram—sword beans boast a much higher productivity rate under minimal care. With a harvest potential of 3 to 7 tons per hectare, farmers selling at a stable baseline of Rp 7,000 per kilogram can gross up to Rp 21 million per hectare. Furthermore, collection prices guaranteed by RPA range between Rp 7,000 and Rp 10,000 per kilogram, providing farmers with a reliable, risk-mitigated market.

Official Responses and Perspectives

Local stakeholders and agricultural authorities have offered mixed views on the sudden transition, balancing cautious optimism with calls for institutional backing.

Azanuddin Kurnia, Acting Head of the Aceh Agriculture and Plantation Office:
Kurnia attributes low regional soybean production to uncompetitive farm-gate pricing. Although the government targeted 5,000 hectares of candidate land for soybean cultivation this year, only 1,500 to 2,000 hectares materialized.

"Farmer interest is low because soybean prices are less profitable compared to rice and corn," Kurnia explained.

While praising grassroots efforts to turn sword beans into a viable income source for rural communities, Kurnia noted that the regional government has yet to allocate specific budgetary support for the crop, though the office plans to inspect sword bean farms to evaluate their potential and seed supply.

Rivan Rinaldi, Executive Director of the Rumoh Pangan Aceh (RPA) Foundation:
Rinaldi underscored the absurdity of Indonesia’s dependency on imported soy to produce its most iconic traditional foods, such as tempeh and tofu.

"It is ironic that our traditional foods rely entirely on imported raw materials," Rinaldi said.

He explained that sword beans emerged as the premier alternative after extensive research and taste-testing. However, because consumers are accustomed to the texture and flavor of traditional soybean tempeh, RPA currently markets a hybrid product composed of 70% soybean and 30% sword bean, reserving 100% sword bean tempeh for specific orders. Despite market adaptation challenges, demand outstrips supply; RPA requires 100 to 150 kilograms of beans daily to produce roughly 22 tons of tempeh per month.

Elradhie Noor Ambia, Pioneering Farming Partner with RPA:
Ambia, who has researched sword bean resilience in Blang Bintang, Aceh Besar, highlights the crop’s extraordinary drought tolerance.

"During severe droughts when other crops dry up, the sword bean stays lush. It handles dry spells well, though it cannot tolerate prolonged waterlogging," Ambia noted.

Even during record-dry seasons when yields dropped from a potential one kilogram per stalk down to 1–2 ounces, the plant stubbornly survived without irrigation or heavy fertilization.

Implications: Climate Resilience, Economic Empowerment, and Food Sovereignty

The widespread adoption of sword beans carries profound implications for Aceh’s rural economy and environmental sustainability.

1. Climate Change Adaptation

Farmers report shifting seasonal calendars, with late-arriving rains and prolonged dry spells disrupting traditional crop cycles. Unlike soybeans, which are notoriously delicate, the sword bean requires minimal water, thrives in poor soils, and bears pods just 100 days after planting. Crucially, the plant can live and fruit for one to two years without replanting, producing fresh blooms immediately after rainfall.

2. Natural Pest Resistance

One of the most celebrated attributes of the sword bean is its near-immunity to local wildlife pests. Farmers note that monkeys, wild boars, and water buffaloes refuse to eat the leaves, pods, or seeds—at worst, only trampling the vegetation. This eliminates the need for expensive electric fencing, constant night-watch patrols, or chemical pesticides, drastically lowering operational costs for smallholders.

3. Women’s Empowerment and Local Livelihoods

The processing chain established by Rumoh Tempe Nusa has unlocked direct economic opportunities for local women. Workers like Yusniar, Samiyati, Nurmawati, and Jamilah—many of whom previously relied on precarious foraging for wild oysters—now manage structured production shifts. Working in flexible morning and afternoon schedules, they handle everything from sorting and boiling to fermentation, packaging, and sun-drying.

With daily outputs ranging from 155 to 465 blocks of tempeh—spurred in part by institutional orders such as the Free Nutritious Meal (Makan Bergizi Gratis / MBG) program—these women enjoy steady, dignified employment. Furthermore, RPA has opened agent-partner networks across the region, allowing small-scale distributors to generate independent income.

Conclusion

What began as an overlooked wild vine is rapidly proving to be an invaluable pillar of food sovereignty in Aceh. By marrying traditional agricultural knowledge with modern community-based enterprise, the sword bean (Canavalia ensiformis) offers a scalable blueprint for Indonesia: a way to break free from the shackles of expensive foreign imports, insulate local farmers from climate shocks, and secure rural prosperity from the ground up.