Livelihood dynamics, the Economic crisis and coping mechanisms in Kerinci District, Sumatra

Abstract

In spite of episodes of severe stress, rural areas in Indonesia have always shown resilience by absorbing redundant labor, as well as new entrants to the labor force. Processes of shared poverty and specific redistributive mechanisms levelled out shortages and surpluses in times of severe livelihood stress (Geertz 1963; O’Malley 1977; Lont & White 2002; Touwen 2000). There is much evidence, however, that decades of agricultural commercialization have altered these functions of rural areas, as notions of shared poverty and other safety net functions appear to have gradually fallen into disuse (Missen 1970; Kahn 1980; Hinderink & Sterkenburg 1987). The mainly redistributive mechanisms underlying or dominating livelihoods based on a subsistence-oriented system of wet rice cultivation have been transformed into more individualized and adapted forms of resilience.