Pursuing livelihoods, imagining development smallholders in Highland Lampung, Indonesia

Abstract

This study explores how people experience' development' and the ways they shape and maintain their modes of life. The discussion begins with Lampung province, moves to one of the province's highland regions, and to a village in this highland region. Colonial and post-colonial initiatives drove the transformation of Lampung in the 2Qth century, bringing mixed results and effects: rapid growth in agricultural production, the formation of 'wealthy zones' in some areas, and the creation of pockets of poor in other areas. In Sumber Jaya and Way Tenong highlands, migrants have transformed one of Lampung' s last frontier regions into one of its 'wealthy zones'. Although the bulk of these migrants migrated spontaneously, they were integrated within the framework of planned development. The level of progress that the region has achieved is largely the result of villagers' efforts to bring the state resources to the village. For decades in conflict with forestry authorities, recently farmers in some villages have agreed to establish a new relationship with forestry authorities, but the struggle for control over land resources continues. In Gunung Terang village, village social organization mediates official relations between people and the state as well as in community affairs. Household smallholder farming dominates the village economy. The persistence of this smallholder tradition is closely related to the social flexibility of smallholder agriculture. Show more