Author : Ergilio Ferreira Vicente

Summary : The study was conducted in Zumalai Sub-District, Covalima, Timor Leste to analyze the contribution of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) project through its community development methods, namely, community education, community organizing, and community resource management to achieve rice security. Using the Slovin's formula, data gathered from 41 farmer-groups in two villages (24 from Raimea village and 17 from Tashilin Village). From each farmer-group , five members were randomly selected to comprise 205 respondents who participated in the household survey. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric Pearson Chi-square test were used in the data analysis. Additional qualitative data were gathered through focus group discussion (FGD), key informant interviews (KII), and secondary sources. The findings revealed that majority of the respondents were adult males, married, elementary graduate and have 0.01- 1.0 hectare of land for planting rice. Majority of the respondents from the two villages attended various components of the SRI training but still need training on other SRI components. The purposes and reasons of joining the SRI group include having access to government facilities and incentives, share experiences, share resources and labour among members and work together. The SRI practices were able to secure the communities' environment and maximize utilization of local resources. The program could increase rice production up to 2.99% compared with the traditional practices wih an average yield of 0.83 ton/ha. The SRI can be sustained with the existing resources in the study sites. As a result of increased rice production, 71 percent of the farmers did not experience rice storage after involvement in the SRI program and rice production has been sufficient to feed their family all year round. The current average price of rice in the Zumalai Sub-district is $0.25 per kilogram, which is considered just enough to be accessible to the community during rice short tage. Rice is the primary staple food to 88 percent of the respondent s while in the absence of rice, corn is the preferred alternate staple food. The results of correlation analysis using the Pearson Chi-square test and Fishers Exact show that the rice security, measured in terms of indicators of rice availability, rice access, and rice utilization, is significantly correlated with some of the indicators of the community development methods. Some mechanisms to sustain SRI as a community development strategy are recommended.