The Marginalization of Bali's Farmers

matsaleh

This is unbelievable! Tourists come to see Bali because of the spectacular beauty of the island, the rice terraces and small villages, away from the craziness of Kuta/Legian/Seminyak. Fill it up with commercial hotels, nightclubs and villas, then there's nothing to come and see! The tourists will go elsewhere. Next he'll be asking all the Balinese to move out of Bali to make way for local and international tourists. :icon_evil: Original story from Balidiscovery.com [SIZE=4]The Marginalization of Bali's Farmers [/SIZE] Bali Business Leader Suggest Bali Farmers Move to Other Islands to Accommodate Rapid Growth of Tourism Sector. (2/19/2011) The growing threat to Bali's agricultural heritage was recently highlighted by a statement from the head of the Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association (APINDO) declaring that Bali is no longer a suitable location for farming activities. In the view of a Balinese business leader, apparently Bali is becoming too crowded for the Balinese who should now be prepared to move on and make more room for tourist activities. Quoted in Beritabali.com, the chairman of APINDO, Panundiana Khun, said that the diminishing amount of land available for agriculture in Bali means the government should undertake a large program of transmigration, moving Balinese farmers to other areas of Indonesia, such as Kalimantan. "If these are only simple farmers, why don't we just transmigrate them to Kalimantan? In Kalimantan one hectare of land costs only two million rupiah. You can even ask for it for free. East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan is mostly full of Javanese. The local population is only 30 percent," explained Khun. Panaudiana Khun added that while some agriculture can continue to be developed in Bali, that activity should only be to complement tourism. Agriculture in Bali, in the view of Khun, will only become in the future one element in a total Balinese tour package. Bali News: The Marginalization of Bali's Farmers

Fred2

And he talks about simple farmers???? Someone needs to look at the simple business leaders.:icon_mrgreen:

gilbert de jong

maybe instead of looking at it from a business p.o.v. try a religious p.o.v.

mat

[b]Farming in Bali.[/b] I have bought a patch of land in Bali which has a large farm house on it. I intend to knock that down, build a smaller house and continue farming the land. I know it won't make much money but will be a fun hobby and will feed a lot of mouths. Any other expats out there who are into farming rather than turning farmland into purely residential and gardens? Be nice to share ideas.

gilbert de jong

hi mat... I am not that much into farming, buy I do own several patches of land wich are used for 'farming'...people from the respective villages work the land (clove,rice,fruits) and I supposed to get 50% of the profits when harvested. Clove gives the largest profit and I do check the at harvest time. my part of the rice harvest I don't sell but have choosen to receive the rice instead of money. The fruits I also dont bother to check, but always get paid and get fruits :icon_biggrin:

Darsih

[b]Outrageous[/b] I just sent this to APINDO [INDENT]This is outrageous. This is the most culturally and HUMANLY insensitive thing I've ever heard. He doesn't understand the Balinese culture and the connection Balinese have to their land. WHY DOESN'T THE TOURISM INDUSTRY MOVE TO KALIMANTAN IF THE LAND IS SO CHEAP AND IT'S SUCH A GREAT PLACE? Mr. Khun should make a public apologize for this comment and be moved to a position that is not related to public relations and/or any cultural activities and not working with other people.[/INDENT] My husband is a Balinese organic farmer. Part of his success is that he LOVES his land and he LOVES Bali. Darsih Indonesiaorganic.com

BKT

The wife's old man has a farm in Lovina, he grows all sorts of things from Tobacco, Corn, Mango's etc. If anyone has land here in the north and is keen on making money from it growing Tobacco let me know, the extended family works independently with a large Tobacco company in Java.

BKT

The majority of farmers out there don't actually own the land they work on, I know in the north its easier to find land to rent than it is to find reliable farmers who won't steal from you and sell at the markets, The Tobacco Industry is a little different to what Gil explained, they work with independent companies in most areas of Indonesia, these companies are given a certain amount of cash to go into rural areas, rent land, pay the workers and check up on crops. After 6 months they come in and collect. All the owner gets is the money for renting the land and a wage if they're actually farming it themselves.

Markit

At the risk of sounding provocative I would like to suggest that it really isn't such a bad or evil idea. Lets just think about it for a minute: Most of the larger hotels [U]are already[/U] paying the locals to farm near their hotels - called I believe a tourist tax. This shows that it is in the interest of the entire tourist industry to have these people there and doing what they do best - farming, but these farmers are not dependent upon the ratio of price of crop per bushel/peck/kilo to land value to subsist. They are charging for a service. The prettier it is the more they can charge and the more people will come to see it. Just ask them north of Ubud. Farming sucks and is a tough way to make a living - if you can charge 100 juta for a hectare land that will at most pay you 5 million a year for you killing yourself what would [U]you[/U] do? There are wide stretches of land in Indonesia that really don't have anyone on them and do only cost 2 juta/are so why not move the [U]willing[/U] farmer and his family to those? Leaving the far more productive land to the tourists that can really stipulate with their almighty dollar what happens to that land. Anybody else noticed that much of that beautiful rice paddy is now given over to ugly corn planting? If I wanted to be surrounded by cornfields I would have stayed in Kansas Aunty Em! Do you think that the hotel and villa spread will stop anytime soon because they've run out of unused land? No, of course not, they are putting farm land under concrete and wouldn't it be better for Bali to have the money that controlled growth would supply to chart a course for the rest of its people and culture through the coming highs and lows? This fella seems to have learned the first rule of the market - and that is [U]you can't fight the market[/U]. Maybe he is a little early with his idea but before you all get excited maybe just think about it a bit first? Something has to happen and my feeling is rather sooner than later? I have my Bali house and to be honest I would love for all building to stop on the island right now, but it aint gonna happen. So what to do? This is just one suggestion but it's better, in my opinion, to have to have the chaos controlled rather than not.

gilbert de jong

@BKT...yeah I have been told by several tobacco growers, they have to work within as they call it a koperasi... This is how I understand how he meant it "if I would for example wanted to grow Tobacco on my own land, I wouldn't be able to sell it at harvest-time...other then to that koperasi ofcourse, who would pay far under marketprice value because of the monopoly the hold. Did I understand them correctly??

gilbert de jong

ronb wroteIndonesia has a history of transmigration - mostly exporting Javanese to other islands. The outcomes are often not very good. This "business leader" should study some Indonesian history before shooting his mouth off. Also, other countries such as Australia, have at times tried settlement schemes for farmers to clear and farm new lands - some succeed, but there are many failures - often destroying the local environment.

that was somewhat what/how I meant...moving balinese hindu's to a islam region in Indonesia...thereby creating room on Bali to further extend the javanese islam invasion of Bali...:icon_e_sad:

matsaleh

gilbert de jong wrotethat was somewhat what/how I meant...moving balinese hindu's to a islam region in Indonesia...thereby creating room on Bali to further extend the javanese islam invasion of Bali...:icon_e_sad:

Exactly my thoughts, Gil :icon_sad:

hermit

[QUOTE] The growing threat to Bali's agricultural heritage was recently highlighted by a statement from the head of the [I]Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association (APINDO)[/I] declaring that Bali is no longer a suitable location for farming activities. [/QUOTE] This is a typical shot from someone who probably has never set foot anywhere else than Kuta,Nusa Dua,Sanur.I do doubt very much if any research was made before making the statement.Too many people in positions like this mr. Khun seem to think the only responsability they have is to improve profit for their members.No sense of social responsability.New Order mentality. @Markit:corn is usually used as an inbetween crop,until enough water is again available for farming rice. I do not agree that it is a good idea to sell agricultural land.Families that used to be very rich (like the local radja's)and sold all their land to buy cars and consumer goods and plenty of Bintangs are living in miserable poverty now,sitting on a heap of rust.The families that did not sell at least have a steady income and food. Do not forget Bali was not a money -economy until far into the twentieth century in most places.it will still take a long time before the people have a real long term vision about money.

ronb

matsaleh wrote Quoted in [I]Beritabali.com[/I], the chairman of [I]APINDO[/I], Panundiana Khun, said that the diminishing amount of land available for agriculture in Bali means the government should undertake a large program of transmigration, moving Balinese farmers to other areas of Indonesia, such as Kalimantan. "If these are only simple farmers, why don't we just transmigrate them to Kalimantan? In Kalimantan one hectare of land costs only two million rupiah. You can even ask for it for free. East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan is mostly full of Javanese. The local population is only 30 percent," explained Khun.

Indonesia has a history of transmigration - mostly exporting Javanese to other islands. The outcomes are often not very good. This "business leader" should study some Indonesian history before shooting his mouth off. Also, other countries such as Australia, have at times tried settlement schemes for farmers to clear and farm new lands - some succeed, but there are many failures - often destroying the local environment.

BKT

gilbert de jong wrote@BKT...yeah I have been told by several tobacco growers, they have to work within as they call it a koperasi... This is how I understand how he meant it "if I would for example wanted to grow Tobacco on my own land, I wouldn't be able to sell it at harvest-time...other then to that koperasi ofcourse, who would pay far under marketprice value because of the monopoly the hold. Did I understand them correctly??

Well you could grow it and sell it if you want but I think theres a process of turning the raw tobacco into smokable tobacco, this is done by the tobacco company. Tobacco companies only deal with the Koperasi because its a lot easier than dealing with hundreds of different farmers. The Koperasi is given a set amount of money each year from the tobacco company to allocate to renting land and paying farmers, they then a required to fill a certain quota. This can be a gamble for the Korerasi because if theres too much rain or not enough rain and the crops fail they can lose a lot of money (like last year they lost 200mil). If it goes well (which is usually does) the Koperasi can make up to 800mil. So basically the Tobacco company control the price of which they buy it for, and the Koperasi makes money on anything over the quota.. saying all this don't quote me on all of the info I've given you here, I'm not %100 sure that this is exactly how it works Also the Koperasi is not really the word I'd use, its more of a family business. The boss lady is my wifes, sisters fiances mum. Lovely lady she is

JohnnyCool

The "[I]Javanese Islam Invasion[/I]" of Bali is nothing new. It's not so much that as fat-cat "investors" in Jakarta buying the island up with beads. Not all Balinese are that stupid. Many of them have known this for years and are obviously unahppy about it. Who could blame them? I've met some who contemplate turning Bali into a country separate from Indonesia. Imagine that, if you will? "[I]The Democratic Republic Of Bali[/I]"? On top of that, add a huge dose of "international investors" sinking money into ever more hotels, golf courses, resorts, etc. Plus the expats building their villas. Bali is a tiny island. A population of 3.9 million people. Maybe about half of it is either too mountainous or "national park" for agriculture. Sea water has already encroached the water table by as much as five kilometres. Unfortunately, Bali is becoming an environmental disaster zone. The "golden days" are rapidly receding (if they were ever there in the first place). Personally, I loved Bali more back in the early 1970s than what I see these days. I think Bali is basically fucked. It might doddle around for a few more years with idiots at the helm, so to speak, (like the rest of the country), but the writing is definitely on the wall. The APINDO people sound like complete fools to me. Why don't they pressure Bali's Governor to [B]reduce[/B] tourist numbers (both domestic and international), rather than trying to increase them? On the other hand, the various "investors" here might like to think about making a special Disneyland-ish area in Bali - call it a [I]Bali Hindu Theme Park[/I], when all the farmers and other "normal" Balinese have been transmigrated to make way for more "development". :icon_evil:

cabaicabai

gilbert de jong wrotethat was somewhat what/how I meant...moving balinese hindu's to a islam region in Indonesia...thereby creating room on Bali to further extend the javanese islam invasion of Bali...:icon_e_sad:

I see so you think is a social issue that has relevance but ordinary Indonesians (according to you) don't care about rampant corruption and human rights violations by the tni and kopassus. Blinkers. :icon_rolleyes: Oh and building villas for westerners all over the countryside isn't helping.

matsaleh

[quote=JohnnyCool] ... "[I]The Democratic Republic Of Bali[/I]"? [/quote] I like the sound of that. :icon_biggrin:

Markit

How do you feel about "The Hindu Republic of Bali"?

cabaicabai

Markit wroteHow do you feel about "The Hindu Republic of Bali"?

How would the Balinese like to have every building in Bali flattened and every piece of infrastructure destroyed by tni and kopassus backed militia? Careful what you wish for.