Indonesia has made a good recovery from the
1997 financial crisis that swept through Southeast Asia, brought the country’s
economy to near collapse and nearly doubled the number of poor households.
Despite
the global economic downturn of recent years, its economy continues to grow
steadily, and Indonesia has now achieved the status of a middle-income country.
The process of democratization and decentralization continues, and this has
helped contribute to the peaceful resolution of long-simmering regional conflicts,
for example in Aceh, Maluku, North Maluku and Papua.
Steady
economic growth has led to a gradual reduction in overall poverty in the
country, which has fallen from 17 per cent in 2004 to 13 per cent in early
2010. But despite these achievements, those who are poor are now worse off than
they were before the 1997 crisis, and the gap between rich and poor is
widening.
About
half the population lives just above the national poverty line. These ‘near
poor’ households are vulnerable to shocks such as food price increases and ill
health, which can easily drive them into poverty. Despite recent improvements
in education and health sectors, public services and health standards still lag
behind other middle-income countries. High rates of child malnutrition and
maternal mortality, and inadequate access to education, safe water and
sanitation are persistent problems among poor communities.
Approximately
70 per cent of the population lives in rural areas, where agriculture is the
main source of income. Poverty is increasingly concentrated in these areas;
16.6 per cent of rural people are poor compared with 9.9 per cent of urban
populations. Millions of small farmers, farm workers and fishers are materially
and financially unable to tap into the opportunities offered by years of
economic growth. They are often geographically isolated and lack access to
agricultural extension services, markets and financial services.
Food
production is still largely focused on meeting subsistence needs. Although the
country produces crops with a potentially high market value such as cocoa,
nutmeg and cloves, there has not been the level of investment in management,
processing and marketing systems necessary to expand production and take full
advantage of this demand.
Poverty
is most severe in the remote eastern islands of Indonesia, where 95 per cent of
people in rural communities are poor. In many of these eastern provinces
farmers eke out a largely subsistence existence. These provinces are home to
many adat, or indigenous communities, who have often been on the margins of
development processes and programmes. The coastal areas are environmentally
degraded, while upland villages are the most disadvantaged and require
development programmes adapted to the many constraints they face, including
isolation and difficulty of access. Migration to urban centres is often the
only way to overcome unemployment and poverty caused by lack of access to land
and other productive resources.
Women
in Indonesia are particularly vulnerable to poverty; they have less access to
education, they earn less than men, and are subject to discrimination and
exclusion from decision-making processes within households and communities.
In
areas that have experienced civil unrest, many people have been displaced from
their land and lost farm tools and fishing equipment. Plantations have been
destroyed. Many of the households headed by women – as a result of conflict
–are among the poorest and most vulnerable.
Source:
IFAD
No comments:
Post a Comment