Omah Sawah at Ungaran Mountain: Women-led Indigenous care narratives, organic farming and climate justice

Overview

On the slopes of Ungaran Mountain in Central Java, Indonesia, Omah Sawah is a women-led, voluntary, and inclusive community movement that integrates climate justice, organic farming, and Indigenous knowledge as a pathway toward planetary health. Founded in 2015 in Ngesrepbalong Village, Limbangan, Kendal, the initiative centres women, mothers, and marginalised groups as key actors in cultivating agroecological resilience through seed-saving, organic farming, ritual-based land stewardship, and digital inclusion. Drawing on in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentary analysis conducted in 2025, this paper examines how Omah Sawah’s practices challenge human domination over nature by recognising the rights of non-human beings and affirming the ontological equality of species within an ecological community. The study finds three interconnected dimensions of feminist ecological praxis: intergenerational environmental justice enacted through seed-saving and ritual ceremonies; an ethics of care that links human and more-than-human well-being; and community-based conservation strengthened through digital networks. These practices resist extractive and anthropocentric development paradigms while mobilising solidarity, preserving biodiversity, and strengthening food sovereignty amid accelerating climate crises. The paper positions Omah Sawah as a critical case of feminist ecological praxis, illustrating how voluntary grassroots networks rooted in Indigenous epistemologies can advance community-led climate resilience.