Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
through export-oriented agricultural crops, suh as cofee and palm oil in Sumatra,
cocoa in Sulawesi, and high-value horticultural crops in Java, and then again by
the growth of of-farm rural incomes. he impressive ahievement of cocoa-derived
poverty alleviation (and enhanced food security) in rural Sulawesi during the 1980s
and 1990s is a case-in-point (Ruf and Yoddang, 2001). In a recent study by the authors
of livelihood strategies for coffee farmers in Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara (Neilson
et al.
, 2011), food insecurity was found to be muh higher in Nusa Tenggara, where,
paradoxically, food production was a far more central component of livelihoods. In
this study, the most food-secure districts were those in Sulawesi, where farmers were
engaged in a variety of commercially-oriented agricultural pursuits (as in Enrekang
District) and where 'farmers' were highly dependent on off-farm income, especially
remittances (as in North Toraja District). If, at the household scale, there is litle cor-
relation between engagement in primary food production and food security, is there
any rationale at the national scale for supporting policies that promote self-suffi-
ciency?
Food sovereignty and agrarian activism in Indonesia: an
alternative perspective
Popular support for production-oriented solutions to food security has been
bolstered by the resurgence of farmer organizations as a political force in Indonesia
following a thirty-year hiatus. Throughout the New Order, the activities of genuine
peasant movements in Indonesia were violently curtailed in the aftermath of the
communist purges of 1965-66, when grass-roots organizations suh as the
Barisan
Tani Indonesia
(Indonesian Peasants' Front) were accused of having communist
allegiances. Instead, all Indonesian farmers were hannelled into the
Himpunan
Kerukunan Tani Indonesia
(HKTI, Indonesian Peasants' Harmony Association) —
frequently managed by military figures and strongly associated with the ruling
GOLKAR party. During the reformasi era, a number of resurgent peasant move-
ments (
serikat petani
) have gained significant political influence, foremost among
whih is the
Federasi Serikat Petani Indonesia
(FSPI, Federation of Indonesian Peas-
ants' Union, and now known simply as SPI) along with its various provincial
hapters. SPI has also developed strong global networks by being aligned with the
transnational peasants' movement, La Via Campesina (with SPI leader, Henry Sar-
agih, the current Secretary General).
