Hoeing in the hills : stress and resilience in an upland farming system in Java

Abstract

Overpopulation, poverty and land degradation are widespread phenomena in many upland areas in South and South East Asia. However, the literature dealing with these problems is characterized by unwarranted assumptions and a high level of generalization with respect to the nature and extent of degradation, the behaviour of farmers and the wider social, political and economic context in which farmers operate. This thesis inquires into the development of land use in a particular upland area, the Gunung Sewu, a in Java, in order to test how these notions and assumptions will stand in the face of empirical evidence. The Gunung Sewu is a limestone area which is widely believed to be poor and degraded. Immigration from the densely populated lowland areas resulted in rapid population growth which caused the expansion and intensification of agriculture in the area during the 19th century and the first four decades of this century. From the 1940s, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the population was plunged into a long crisis concurrently with the adverse, political and social conditions in Java as a whole. The general economic situation greatly affected the area, already disadvantaged by its marginal environment, lack of infrastructure, social and economic backwardness, and deprived the population of the means required to cope with their large and growing numbers. During this period, the area suffered greatly from droughts and rat pests, to which it had become extremely susceptible as a result of the expansion of agriculture onto marginal land and land degradation. Poverty and and malnutrition became rampant. From 1967 onwards, after the installation of the new order government, various opportunities presented themselves in the form of off-farm inputs, larger and more accessible markets for agricultural produce and more employment opportunities outside farming. These enabled the farmers to increase the productivity of their land and to strengthen their household economies. These new developments introduced new forms of land use, such as tree growing, and stimulated the farmers to maintain and improve land management practices, such as terracing, which had gradually developed under an increasing population pressure. As a result, crop cultivation has now become more sustainable than it was twenty years before. Increased diversification in farming and non-farming pursuits alike has equipped the population with means to cope with the disturbances affecting crop cultivation in the area, while constant out-migration has reduced population growth to a very low level. As a result, the general welfare situation improved. Lessons which can be drawn from this case study concern the relativity of land productivity and land degradation, the role of stability, the land manager's capacity for adaptation, and the strong connection that exists between the problems in upland areas, their regional position, and, general conditions in the wider economy and society. Show more