DOES AGRICULTURE REALLY ALLEVIATE POVERTY? : Evidence from the Indonesian Economy

概要

論文の詳細を見る
Does agriculture sector really alleviate poverty in Indonesia? This paper attempts to review Indonesian economy evidence in order to persuasively answer the question. Firstly, the facts shows that at least, the agriculture provides export earnings and it gives a source of employment for millions of rural smallholder families which are very strongly associated with poverty rates. Secondly, when the peak of Asian economic crisis hit Indonesia in August 1998, Rupiah per US$ hardest downwards (80% of its value), followed by remarkable inflation (also 80%), no economic sector had the best performance in the country, except the agriculture sector. At the time, the export value of agriculture grew quickly and the income of smallholders whose agriculture exports products also rapidly soared. Needless to say, smallholders enjoyed to those crisis impacts even though Indonesian economy stopped growing in general. Then, although agricultural sector is not single factor to alleviate poverty, but since almost 70% of the poor nation works in rural agriculture, however, the sector really can be expected to alleviate poverty in the country. Similarly, since the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is closely to agriculture (many raw materials of SMEs are based on agriculture products), reempowering SMEs is also strongly considered to be the next routes in generating employment as well as fighting poverty.
2009-03-15