Comprehending Poverty in Rural Indonesia: An In-depth Look Inside Paddy Farmer Household in Marginal Land Area of Banyuasin District, South Sumatra Province

Abstract

Indonesia's steady economic growth in recent decade has led to a gradual reduction in overall poverty in the country. However, according to The World Bank (2011), 43.3 percent of Indonesians live on less than $2 a day. The majority of those poor live in rural area and earn their primary income from agriculture. Through an in-depth look inside the poor farmer households of the marginal land of South Sumatra, Indonesia, this paper exposes that in spite of being food producers, the farmer households are food insecure. They also do not have  adequate income and employment in the area. The natural state of the area and the unequal social order in the country are among the roots of poverty. The Government’s role in terms of poverty reduction should be strengthened. The current need of the farmers regarding this issue is the regulation on laborer wage and on the practice of bonded labor and moneylenders.