SEA Volume 8, No. 2 (2019) 23 EXPLORING VEGETABLE FARMING IN PERI-URBAN AREAS OF JAKARTA (A CASE STUDY OF TANGERANG REGENCY) Faisal Fahmi* 1 , Doddy Aditya Iskandar 2 1 Student of Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning; Universitas Gadjah Mada 2 Lecturer of Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning; Universitas Gadjah Mada e-mail: * 1 faisal.fahmi28@gmail.com ABSTRACT The presence of vegetable farmers in peri-urban areas is essential for the supply of food to the urban population. However, they face intense competition from other non-agricultural activities. This research aims to explore the characteristics of vegetable farmers in Tangerang Regency as part of Jakarta Metropolitan Area, the motivation of respondents towards becoming vegetable farmers, and their strategy in adapting to massive urban development. We employed the qualitative approach by combining questionnaires, field observations, and interviews. We found the new entrant farmers that are in their productive ages and came with experience in the formal economy before starting farming. The motivation of respondents became vegetable farmers vary depend on their background and the land ownerships. Farmers in the study area are doing diversification by having off-farm activities and doing intensification by patterning crop to adapt rapid urbanization. To sustain the development of vegetable farming in peri-urban area, it will be crucial for government to create the new strategy of using vacant lands as farmlands to produce vegetables in order to combat food security issues, and also to assist farmers by upgrading their skill through various trainings. Keywords: Peri-urban, Strategy, Vegetable Farming. INTRODUCTION Rapid development in urban areas has led to urbanization. About 45% of the Asian population lived in urban areas in 2011, and it has been predicted that, by 2050, this will increase to 64% (United Nations, 2011). For Indonesia context, the urban population reached about 50% from national population and heavily concentrated in mega cites, especially Jabodetabek (Rustiadi, Pribadi, Pravitasari, & Indraprahasta, 2015). As one of the peripheral regions of Jakarta, Tangerang Regency also experiences the phenomenon of urban expansion. In the last ten years, the agricultural areas of Tangerang Regency decreased 8.8% from the original 40,653 hectares to 37,073 hectares during the 2007–2017 period (Statistics of Tangerang Regency, 2017). Despite the pressure of urban expansion and land conversion, the farming activities in peri-urban areas have persisted in a meaningful context. Sepatan Timur, the area near the Soekarno-Hatta airport, is well known as the vegetable producer for the markets in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area. Farmers in this district can supply up to 40,000 bunches of vegetables (Farma, 2018).