Agrarian Nation: Development in Agricultural Sector without Agrarian Reform

Terraced paddy field in Jugo

Indonesia is popular as an Agrarian Nation, with a great amount of rural population and huge natural resources. "Our ancestor is a sailor”, is the title of a kid song. The sea region is one third of the largeness of Indonesia. Thousands kinds of creature live in the sea. At this time, about 60% of Indonesian people count on their livelihood as farmers. 50% of farmers include small scale-farmers or peasants and farm workers, whose land is less than 0,25 hectares or landless, forest dwellers and fishers. The majority of farmland is planted with main plants, such as paddy, corn and cassava. Horticultural plants are usually planted in highlands. Beside that, several different farming practices are poultry, livestock, dairy-cattle, fishery, etc. There are also hectares of plantations and forests. What a large and rich Agrarian Nation Indonesia is!

Indonesia’s agriculture development has changed to industrial development. After reaching self-sufficiency in food with The Green Revolution program, the development policy altered all resources from agricultural sector to industry. The policy stabilizing the prices on basic goods with no subsidies on agriculture inputs has made the farmers’ products low in price. Moreover, the imported rice has destroyed domestic market for farmers’ product. A large amount of farmland in rural area become buildings and industrial area. Agricultural inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides that are produced by big corporations with subsidies from the government, result in the disappearance of farmers’ local wisdom to produce local seeds and natural fertilizers. All of the government’s policies have destructed farmer's livelihoods and decreased agriculture development in Indonesia.

The Agrarian Reform program should be a priority in development to alleviate poverty in Indonesia. Most of farmers live in rural area which is wider than urban area all of the regions. Because of lack of access to land and other inputs of production, farmers and other rural communities cannot get enough income to fulfill their daily needs. The program consists of some activities, such as a just land distribution, allocating productive land for farming, empowering farmers to produce their own agricultural inputs, suitable farming system for environmental sustainability, credits provision for farming, build local market at reasonable prices and good quality, and supportive policies. Rural area and its community where the program is implemented have to be a subject in the development. The program can be a solution to reduce poverty based on agriculture sector.

Dian Pratiwi Pribadi