5 Problems That Make Indonesian Farmers are Not Free Yet
Last August is the momentous day for Indonesia. Seventy years ago, Indonesia has been free from the control of colonialists, but some of us are not free yet. Even though they work hard now to reach freedom, they still can’t. Who are they?
They are farmers who are meritorious in providing food in Indonesia. Why are not they free yet? What are exactly the problems they have been faced until now? Here are the answers.
The Farmland Shrinks Gradually
The farmland in Asia shrinks gradually until 44 percent because of industrial development and climate change. In Indonesia, shrinking farmland occurs significantly every year. There are at least nearly 120 thousand ha farmland changes the function every year. Our farmers only have approximately 0,2 ha of farmland which in damaged condition, and it is leading to reduce productivity. Many of them chose to sell their farmland because they can’t do farming with that condition anymore.
The Farmers Have The Limited Capital Access
As we know, our farmers usually don’t get any trust from banks to borrow money for farming. Based on the data of SUSENAS 2016, only 15 percent of our farmers can get bank credit. Therefore, our farmers need to get other solutions which sometimes have a detrimental effect on themselves. For instance, borrowing money from the middleman or loan sharks with high interest that makes our farmers more difficult to be prosperous.
The Farmers’ Weak Management Skill
Indonesian farmers still have difficulty in managing the cultivation process. They also have weak financial management skill. Hence, it is difficult for them to maximize profit. Many farmers have the habit of cultivating the commodities that have a high market price. But, that habit causes a great loss to them in a long term. The sale value of agricultural commodities is also still fluctuating, so if farmers want to continue to do it, the problem will never be finished.
The Lack of Technology Use Skill
Farmers still have difficulty in using agricultural technology. Farmers, especially those who are old have difficulty in creating innovation and strategies to increase their crops. Besides, there is still a scarcity of agricultural production input which is very important in carrying out cultivation. The price of agricultural production input is still high and it eventually will be the obstacle for farmers in running their business.
The Harvest Handling is Not Still Appropriate
This problem is related to the marketing process. The crops have to undergo a long distribution chain, hence the sale value at the farmer level is very low. Could you imagine if the farmers can directly sell their crops to the buyers? If it happens, our farmers can get the proper profit. But in reality, they cannot do that. Also, the weak supply and demand management often leads to a falling price at the peak of the harvest due to excess supply. Meanwhile, the crops are easily damaged so they cannot be stored for a long time. So, farmers must sell it immediately at a low price.
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This article was written by Gina Dwi Prameswari
Originally posted at https://blog.crowde.co on August 13, 2020
