Our OD Young Person of the Month is Janu Muhammad from Indonesia. Janu is an inspirational and passionate person, has more than 7 years experience working on project management, food security, community development, and social entrepreneurship. He has worked with grassroot communities and multi-stakeholder in combating poverty, ending hunger in rural-urban societies, and young farmers’ regenerations across Indonesia.
Read his amazing story below and be inspired.
JANU MUHAMMAD
Janu Muhammad is a Founder and CEO of Sayur Sleman, a platform which offers gardening supplies, regenerative farming programs, urban farming training, agribusiness consultation, and free vegetable donation program starting 2020. Sayur Sleman’s innovations not only provide business but transform and empower the local communities in Indonesia. Through the Sayur Sleman Academy program, more than 3000 young people have become agribusiness training participants. The Sayur Sleman Academy is a program which has a mission to produce more young entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector, in line with the targets of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia.
On How He Started
Starting from the problem of his parents, where agricultural products were not being sold, Janu then looked for a solution and succeeded. He and his wife initiated Sayur Sleman as a platform to promote vegetable products through social media and it has helped traders’ traditional markets survive during the pandemic. Now, he is known as an agri-social entrepreneur with the “Sayur Sleman” platform that markets premium melon and lettuce using a hydroponic system in Indonesia. That figure is Janu Muhammad, Founder and CEO of Sayur Sleman, a platform which offers hydroponic products, regenerative farming programs, and agribusiness training starting 2020. Sayur Sleman’s innovations not only provide business but transform and empower the local communities in Indonesia. Sayur Sleman has several programs, including Sayur Sleman Berbagi (Donation), Sayur Sleman Bertani (Farm), and Sayur Sleman Academy.
Through Sayur Sleman Berbagi, 120 million rupiah in donations have been distributed to more than 300 people with fresh vegetables packages and side dishes in 3 locations in Yogyakarta. There is also Sayur Sleman Bertani, which provides urban farming projects and integrated farming pilot projects and the Sayur Sleman Academy which trains young agribusiness entrepreneurs. Thanks to funding support from UNDP Accelerator Lab Indonesia and Pertamina Foundation, these three programs ran smoothly.
On His Successes
Janu and Sayur Sleman also contribute to creating global food security and achieving Sustainable Development Goals, especially realizing zero hunger. For their contribution, Sayur Sleman received some awards including: Winner of Urban Innovation Challenge by UNDP Accelerator Labs Indonesia, Young Leaders Award by Pertamina Foundation, 1st Place for Indonesian Farmer Youth Ambassador in 2022, Paragon Innovation Award in the Sociopreneur category in 2021, 1st Place for Indonesian Youth Inspiration in 2020, and SDG Challenge Award by RCE Global. Sayur Sleman, through Janu, is also the Delegation Coordinator for the K-Smart Farm Workshop in South Korea (2023) and the ASEAN Farmers’ Meeting.
Janu has been recognised as Young Ambassador Agriculture from the Indonesia Ministry of Agriculture, 2023 OD Impact Challenge 30 Under 30 Changemaker by Opportunity Desk, and received SDG Certified Leader Award from SDG Academy Indonesia, Tanoto Foundation, Ministry of National Planning, and UNDP Indonesia for supporting SDGs. At the SDG Academy program graduation ceremony, Janu was named The Most Outstanding Leader with Tandurasa by Sayur Sleman as the Best Capstone Project. In 2023, he also received the Young Entrepreneur Award from the Ministry of Youth and Sports Indonesia and as Global Future Fellow by Pijar Foundation. This year, he represented Indonesia for the Equity Initiative Fellowship program to undertake training in several countries, including Vietnam, New Zealand, USA, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Through this fellowship, he had the opportunity to attend short courses at Harvard University and MIT. He will also attend the 2024 One Young World Summit in Montreal, Canada with IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Scholarship. Janu graduated from Yogyakarta State University and got Indonesia government scholarship to pursue a master’s degree at University of Birmingham, UK. Previously, he had also attended summer courses at Utrecht University, the Netherlands and YSEALI Academic Fellowship on Civic Engagement at Arizona State University. Janu aspires to be a world-class agri-social entrepreneur who provides benefits to Indonesian and global society.
On His Challenges and Future Plans
Janu, an inspirational and passionate person, has more than 7 years experience working on project management, food security, community development, and social entrepreneurship. He has worked with grassroot communities and multi-stakeholder in combating poverty, ending hunger in rural-urban societies, and young farmers’ regenerations across Indonesia. Janu’s interest in agriculture is not without reason. Some of the younger generation are still reluctant to develop the agricultural sector, even though the potential is large. Several surveys have stated that Gen Z tends not to want to work in the agricultural sector because that sector does not have a career path and the reason is that it is only for people in the village. In fact, if we work seriously it can produce profits and benefits. The best way to get them involved in the agricultural sector is to provide real examples and evidence.
“Food is a daily necessity so there will always be demand,” he said. Janu also often shares agribusiness training for millennial farmers and farmer groups. Even though he is not a graduate of agriculture, Janu has proven that his willingness to learn, innovation, hard work, collaboration and the power of prayer have helped him continue to be an impactful leader. Through his role as General Secretary of Young Ambassador Agriculture 2023 and Sleman Millennial Farmer, Janu invites the younger generation to start their agribusiness journey. Collaboration with the community, government, private sector, media and academia is an important element for building an impactful business. Building a business while empowering the youth community is a strategy that can be implemented for our business growth.
His Words Advice For The Youth
We only live once, be someone who makes an impact and inspires others.
You can connect with Janu Muhammad on Instagram and LinkedIn. You can also check out his project Sayur Sleman on their website here and on Instagram.
You can be the next Opportunity Desk Young Person of the Month! All you have to do is get a friend to recommend your work or fill out the nomination form here. We want to use the platform to recognize and celebrate the efforts of amazing young people around the world. Oh! And you must be an active Opportunity Desk member, either as a fan, reader, or subscriber! Share!
