American Journal of
Economic and Management Business
p-ISSN: XXXX-XXXX
e-ISSN: 2835-5199
Vol. 3 No. 8 August 2024
Impact
of Sustainable Intensification of
Coconuts Toward Women Farmer’s Empowerment in Sarmi
Papua
Heince1*,
Eleonora Sofilda2
Trisakti University, West Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia1,2
Email: [email protected]1*, [email protected]2
Abstract
This study analyzes the impact of sustainable intensification of coconut
plants on the empowerment of women farmers in Sarmi,
Papua, by integrating SDG 5 indicators with SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 8, and addressing
the challenges of achieving SDG 10 and SDG 15 in the context of sustainable
agricultural intensification. Using a qualitative approach and the Sustainable
Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF), this research evaluates the
gender-specific impacts through an in-depth analysis of relevant domains. Data
were collected through purposive sampling and in-depth interviews with coconut
farmers, local government officials, and women activists in Papua. The findings
indicate that improved knowledge and skills in coconut oil production have
shifted women's roles from domestic to productive, enhancing their confidence
and participation in decision-making processes. Challenges include price
instability, land inheritance biases, livelihood diversification, and financing
constraints. The study highlights direct linkages between women's empowerment
and SDGs 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, and 15 in efforts to eradicate poverty, ensure food
security, achieve gender equality, and promote decent work. Managerial
implications include integrating gender mainstreaming in sustainable agriculture
initiatives, enhancing monitoring systems, and adopting eco-friendly
intensification practices. Four key areas for program sustainability are
knowledge enhancement, mechanization, financing, and market access. These
findings provide insights into advancing gender equality and women farmers'
participation in rural agricultural development.
Keywords: Sustainable Intensification, Sdgs, Farmer Women, Gender, SIAF.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International
INTRODUCTION
Sarmi Regency is a coconut-producing area with a productive plant area of
5,085 Ha or 19.9% of the total coconut land area in Papua Province covering an
area of 25,700 Ha in 2019
Agricultural
intensification means an increase in output per unit of input per unit of time,
while sustainable intensification means more food production on the same land
while reducing negative impacts on the environment and, at the same time,
increasing contributions to natural capital and environmental services
In developing
countries, the gender gap is mainly indicated by women's low access to inputs,
resources, and services needed for agricultural production as well as greater
vulnerability in land ownership than men due to various institutional-based
constraints (Croppenstedt et al., 2013; Djurfeldt et al., 2018). Research conducted by
Women's
empowerment and gender equality are ethical imperatives and essential to
environmental conservation and women's socio-economic lives. Different
researchers have shown synergies between women's empowerment/equality and
increased productivity, access to food, soil management, water, health, and
energy
Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) number 5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all
women and girls in direct alignment with SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (no hunger),
SDG 3 (healthy life and improved welfare), SDG 4 (quality inclusive education),
SDG 8 (creating decent jobs and promoting inclusive growth) and SDG 10
(reducing inequality)
In previous
research by Fischer et. al.
The Sustainable
Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF) has been developed with the support
of USAID
The 2030 Agenda
emphasizes that achieving gender equality through empowering women and girls is
essential. SDG 5 on Gender Equality intersects with SDG 1, Eradicating Poverty;
SDG 2, Eradicating Hunger, Access to and Quality of Education (SDG 4), Access to
Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Access to Jobs (SDG 8) and Sustainable
Communities (SDG 11). SDG 1. b calls on countries to "... creating policy
frameworks at the national, regional and international levels based on
development strategies that favor the poor and gender-sensitive..."
effectively carry out their activities
In the
sustainable development goals, all stakeholders must pay attention to
development that supports women. One of Indonesia's mainstay sectors, namely
agriculture, also needs the same attention. Women farmers still experience
significant social and economic injustices. They are seen as less independent,
and the influence of patriarchal culture has fueled the belief that peasant
women cannot thrive. Although their contribution is quite large. Women's
contributions even exceed men's contributions in agriculture in some places
The general goal
of the SDGs is to create a fair, egalitarian, and inclusive society for all. It
is a global call to end poverty, protect planet Earth, and guarantee that all
people live in peace, justice, and well-being. When women are empowered, they will
have more control over their own lives. It can also be considered an important
step in achieving gender equality, meaning "the rights, responsibilities,
and opportunities of each individual will not depend on whether they are born
male or female". UN Population Data states that empowered women have the ability to influence the direction of social change
and have control over their own lives, both inside and outside the home. Before
gender equality can be achieved and maintained, women must be
"empowered" to narrow the "gender gap" and create equality
between women and men. Gender sensitivity is included in every SDG
RESEARCH
METHODS
This research was
conducted using a qualitative descriptive approach to understand and interpret
social phenomena from the perspective of the research subject, namely the
impact of the implementation of sustainable intensification of coconut plants
on the empowerment of women farmers in Sarmi Regency,
Papua, where the government facilitates this agricultural program. This
qualitative method is suitable for use because the issue of women's empowerment
is related to gender transformation, which is considered a sensitive topic (Hennink et al., 2020). With this technique, the researcher
decides on the domain that needs to be known from the sample and looks for
respondents who are willing and able to provide information based on experience
and interaction in their environment.
Data Collection Methods
Sample Withdrawal Method
In this study, sample withdrawal was carried out using the Non-probability sampling method. Non-probability sampling is
a method that does not provide an equal opportunity for any element or member
of the population to be selected as a sample. The Non-probability
sampling technique used in this study is purposive sampling. Purposive sampling
is a technique carried out deliberately by selecting samples based on a
specific purpose. In purposive sampling, samples are selected selectively with
the aim of obtaining the most relevant and representative information related
to the research topic. This study involved 12 respondents, including male and
female coconut farmers and representatives of the district and provincial
governments. The sampling location is the respondent's domicile with land that
is cultivated in the same customary area
Data Analysis Methods
This study was
analyzed using qualitative content analysis on primary data obtained from the
results of in-depth interviews with respondents. This model proposes that data analysis is carried out interactively and
continuously until a comprehensive conclusion is reached. The
qualitative content analysis consists
of three analysis flows that are carried out simultaneously: data reduction,
data presentation, and drawing a conclusion. Data reduction involves
summarizing, selecting, and focusing on important things and looking for themes
and patterns that appear in the data.
This study uses the triangulation method to strengthen the validity of
the findings. Triangulation is an analysis technique that compares data from
different sources or techniques. In this study, Source Triangulation and
Engineering Triangulation were used. Source triangulation was carried out by
verifying the findings by comparing data from different informants and
comparing the results of this study with those of other relevant studies.
Meanwhile, triangulation techniques are carried out to test the credibility of
the data by examining data from the same source but using different analysis
techniques.
The research
respondents were selected using the purposive method from the populations with
the best knowledge of the research objectives in the relevant location
(purposive sampling method). With this method, the samples obtained are hoped
to meet the data analysis requirements (representative and homogeneity).
Variables and Measurements
The impact of
sustainable intensification is assessed using the SIAF Method in five domains:
Productivity, economy, environment, human condition, and social
RESULT AND
DISCUSSION
Findings The research provides relevant indicators or
aspects that spread across
five SIAF domains, as shown in the table below.
Table 1. SIAF domain
and the indicators or aspects that are found
Productivity |
Economy |
Environment |
Human
condition |
Social |
Seed access |
Market
access and income |
Access to
fertilizers and pesticides |
Knowledge |
Access to
natural resources and ownership |
Adopt new
ways |
Income
materialization |
|
Diversification
of livelihoods |
The working
relationship, duties and load |
Product
productivity |
Access
financing |
|
|
Institutional |
Productivity Domain
This domain focuses on
seed access and adopting a new way of processing coconut oil. Like any other
domain, it discusses women's empowerment issues and gender.
Seed access
Related to the availability of coconut
seedlings from the nursery developed by the Papua Provincial Agriculture Office and the
Ministry of Agriculture in the Sarmi area, women
farmers who In the interview, it was not confirmed
that there were new varieties of coconut seedlings from deep coconut seedlings
and Mapanet-Minahasa varieties. In the interview,
Meng can explain the good coconut seedlings and the nursery's location. Where are the three nursery locations in
Papua, one of which is in Sarmi Regency? This farmer
woman's ignorance is reinforced by an explanation from one of the Sarmi
Regency Agriculture Office that the socialization of coconut seeds has been
carried out to farmers. However, it is not women farmers who are present. Although
farmers complained that they did not receive
information regarding the correct selection of seeds, another part of the
interview with the government admitted that it was the women farmers who
provided local coconut seedlings crossed with seeds from outside to produce certified
coconut seedlings on the district nursery land. When the researcher
asked the female farmer respondents how the coconut seedlings were obtained,
they replied that the seedlings were taken from coconut plants that were already on the land.
Even the other respondents received assistance from the government with coconut
seed.
In
the interview, all respondents stated that local coconut seedlings are better
than the seeds of the Yan variety prepared by the government, even though not
all respondents said that there has been a new variety of coconut nurseries in Sarmi. Belief in the quality of the seeds that are taught by parents is still strong. The
assumption is that the quality of coconut seedlings in Sarmi
is better than that of the seeds. This assumption
has been passed down from generation to generation from parents teaching them
how to choose coconut seeds.
Adopt new ways
Since intensified, a
new way of coconut farming has been the introduction of coconut oil product
derivatives, namely VCO, produced by an extraction
technique without heating. The old way is to produce oil products using a heating technique. A new way of adopting because it more prosper and farmers can be done at
home. The government facilitates the equipment needed, such as graters, basins, bottles, and sarin tools. In interviews
with women and men, all respondents can explain the stages of the VCO
production process and an extraction
technique without heating. Farmer women grouping In
the interview, emphasis was placed on the assistance of equipment and
machinery. Gai Reason adopts a
new method in oil manufacturing. Meanwhile, the male group emphasizes the
government's invitation through proGrams intensification
of sustainable agriculture. Farmer women in the interview say that he
recorded in a process book that is taking place, including the number of coconuts
Used, sebathorns raw materials, and the amount of oil
produced in the cycle. This habit is recognized as being done consistently.
When asked, what is the purpose of recording? The respondent replied that he
wanted to count and compare the results obtained from each oil processing. These records are
meaningful in oil processing carried out in households because they will give
the meaning of 'productivity' and 'efficiency' in processing oil.
Product productivity
Many women lament that choosing new or old ways is not a
problem. In processing, coconut has
become a product of VCO or orange oil. This is associated with the respondent's statement
that the fulfillment of outbound needs is urgent and demands to be fulfilled at all times. So, if the respondents did not get
the marketing received VCO
products, they chose to sell fruit coconuts to coconut traders who entered the
camp with an open-top car.
This is the Ga, which explains why
women sell and transact with the market.
A peasant woman who, in
the interview, explained that there was no difference in coconut production
yield before and after intensification was implemented. In addition, there is
an increase in revenue at the level of farmers with the application of a new
way of processing coconuts in VCO.
Economy Domain
The economic domain is
an important aspect according to the recognition of all respondents. They admit
that the output of coconut farming intensification boils down to how coconut
products can be marketed and how the income obtained can cover daily living
needs. This aspect will be related to the diversification of livelihoods, and access to natural resources
will be discussed in relation to human conditions and the social domain.
Market Access and
Income
Coconut products,
namely oil, are sold more by women in thegkan man. The
decision to sell is in the hands of women farmers because it is related to the
responsibility of meeting family needs such as food, children's school fees,
and others in the women's territory. Women farmers will choose a market to sell
coconut, fruit, or oil and its derivative products depending on the urgency of
household needs. There is no real difference in income in selling coconuts,
either in the form of fruit or in the form of coconut oil. For women farmers,
product choice is not important. Because the most important thing is that there
is money to cover the costs of household needs, where urgent needs usually come
suddenly without being taken into account. There is
almost no savings at home. Usually, the urgent need is the child's school
needs.
Income Materialization
All respondents said
that income was used to meet daily needs and expenses for schoolchildren or
children studying in the city. Two male respondents added part of the income
earned to savings.
When researchers asked
female farmer respondents who decided how to use the income from selling
coconuts, two women answered that they decided by themselves, and two other
women answered that they discussed it with their husbands. In this case, female
farmers are the subjects who decide how the family income is used. It is
interesting to note that of the two female farmers who answered that they
decided independently, one of them explained that she made her own decision
because her husband did not help in processing coconuts into VCO. When
researchers asked further, why didn't the husband help? The respondent answered
that the husband had a job in Sarmi town, and even
though the husband returned to the village, the husband did not help process
coconuts into oil. It must be acknowledged that some men consider coconut
farming work to be women's. This is in accordance with the thesis conveyed by
Papuan women's activists and activists during interviews on different occasions
that agricultural work is the role of women in the context of society in the
Tabi traditional region and Papua in general, even though men are the pioneers
in clearing land.
Access
to Financing
The availability of the
required equipment determines the sustainability of adopting new methods. So,
it requires sufficient investment to buy new equipment or replace damaged
equipment. Replacing damaged equipment, such as spare parts for grazing machines,
is an extra expense that is not included in the agricultural intensification
program financing scheme. Meanwhile, only a few farmers set aside their income
to buy equipment, which is only the last priority. The women farmers
interviewed believed that equipment replacement must be completed immediately,
so the financing was taken from the group's treasury. Meanwhile, male
respondents hope for a permanent financing institution like a cooperative. The
idea of cooperatives emerged in discussions with male respondents. Meanwhile,
in discussions with female respondents, this idea did not emerge. The practical
solutions of female respondents might be translated as a mechanical
problem-solving attitude that requires attention to find a solution
immediately. Meanwhile, men want to solve financial problems institutionally.
This is understandable because, in relation to men's duties in clearing forests
into agricultural land, they need to use grass-cutting machines where
technology and machinery need to be provided. Women, youth, and farmers face
specific problems and major challenges in gaining access to funding (Snyder,
K., & Sulle, E., 2022). Various agricultural
innovations are important to ensure farmers can afford technology without
having to take on high debt (Snyder, K., & Sulle,
E., 2022).
Environment Domain
The
experience of the community clearing land traditionally and movingly instills
local knowledge of soil fertility; therefore, fertilization is unnecessary.
Planting land must be fertile because nature maintains the soil. Meanwhile, the
sale or marketing of products is seen as a government intervention that must be
provided.
Access to fertilizers
and pesticides
There is no use of
fertilizers and pesticides. All the speakers interviewed said that the soil is fertile enough
and no
fertilizer is needed. At the same time, the application of pesticides is hardly
mentioned. All interview respondents
agreed that local coconut seeds (coconuts in Sarmi)
are better than those prepared by the
government through the nursery certification. The community's reason is that local seeds are
more disease-resistant, although there has been no research on this. Therefore,
there is no fertilization or spraying of pesticides on coconut plants. Note
here that coconut plants produce old coconut plants inherited from their parent and Tete.
The reason put forward is that local seeds are more resistant to diseases and
pests, although the agriculture department rejects this statement. Explaining pest diseases found in
Coconut trees newly grown and leaf borer pests on old
coconuts in a field visit to a different village the village was researched.
Human Condition Domain
This domain focuses on
farmers' welfare and quality of life, including discrimination, socialization,
and other social aspects that affect their lives. The aspects that emerge from
the interview are knowledge and diversification of livelihoods.
Knowledge
All farmers in the
interview can explain the stages
of a new way of processing coconut milk into coconut oil and VCO. Farmer women
respondents were not only able to explain the stages of the new way of
production of coconut oil, but they also had a production workbook starting
from the input of how many coconuts are peeled and taken
and what is the output of VCO that produced in a
single process cycle. All woman farmer respondents have written records and
steps processing oil in new ways, from all knowledge related to the intensification of Coconut
Farming, materials for making oil in a new way of enthusiastically conveyed by
women farmers. They ran smoothly and confidently.
On the question of what material do respondents want
to learn more about, there are three materials, starting with the most: oil
processing, plant maintenance, and coconut seeds. Half of the respondents
wanted to learn more about oil processing; perhaps this could be analyzed as a
tendency to want to carry out experiments to get more efficient products.
In
terms of knowledge, especially about oil processing in a new way, there is a
transformation of knowledge that complements each other for women and men. The
knowledge that was initially only trained to women through groups eventually
attracted men to join the coconut oil business group. The same happens to adult
boys and girls.
Diversification of
livelihoods
In addition to coconut
plants, farmers also plant pinang, bananas,
and cocoa. Some of these plants are planted among coconut plants. There is
always an option if the oil product is not absorbed into the market. However,
this is also counterproductive because selling fruit coconuts remains the farmers'
choice. At least this choice is the
decision of farmer women because of the urgency to meet the household's needs.
At the same time, male respondents are inclined
to show
fishing options or netting fish in the sea.
Unstable coconut oil
prices become a pending farmer woman selling fruit coconuts. Traders from
Jayapura go to the village with an open-top
vehicle looking for fruit coconuts to buy. The unstable price of coconut oil
incentivizes women farmers to sell coconuts.
Social Domain
This domain focuses on
natural resource access, ownership, decision-making, workforce relations,
duties, loads, natural resources, and institutional conflicts. Women's
empowerment issues and gender are
also
discussed in this domain, just like any other domain.
Access to natural
resources and land ownership
Land ownership and agricultural land are two different things. Ondoafi
owns the land. Ondoafi is a center of the structure
of society custom who is drawn through
a straight line with the founder of the village hamlet and is the son of the previous son of Ondoafi.
With the patriarchal primogeniture system, the kinship system takes
into account the relationship of kinship by drawing or taking the
bloodline from the father's side so that all the paternal relatives
are included in the kinship boundary, while all the maternal relatives are
outside that boundary, it can apply to the
eldest only or all the sons. The implication is
that the position of the leader or customary head is inherited, ascribed status
with all privileges attached to it, including land ownership in his customary.
The land owned can be managed as
much as agricultural land to
the community in its tradition but only to men in the same group of
people.
The
men and women interviewed emphasized that the inheritance
rights of land and land belong to men. This land inheritance does not apply to
men outside the village who are married to women in the same customary group. Meanwhile, women do not have the right to ask for land
managed by their husbands from different customs. However, one female
respondent claimed to have gotten land because it was given to her
brother. In this context, it has a good impact on a woman if she marries a
man in the same custom. However, it will have a beneficial
impact if this woman marries a man in a
different custom.
Land
controlled by certain customary practices can positively affect the
sustainability of agricultural intensification. However, the culture of
inheritance only to the male side can cause the land
to be transferred to another party who asks
for land to be purchased. Selling land can mean saving
the area of land to be planted. This can be difficult for women because it means less land can be planted, while they have to
look for alternative crops that can
generate income if the coconut is not enough to
meet the company's needs; likewise, in the land dispute between the exits of the ga, which usually involves men. In such a situation, the
disputed land should have no agricultural activities.
The working
relationship, duties, and load
Cultivating farmland, picking, and selling is the work area of
women in the tradition and culture of the local community.
Some
are still semi-nomadic. The land is a source of livelihood, and both Indians
cultivate land or look for food in the forest. Working relationships, duties,
and missed loads in the observation have no change in relationship and loads
work before and after programs for agricultural
intensification are carried out. Transformation gender
was marked, with half of the respondents working on farms for the same length
of time as women and men.
This shows that there
is no difference in the means between women and
men related to relation levers and workloads in midwives' coconut farming.
Although a man first carried out the land clearing and cut down large trees,
after that, the women cleared the land and made an income. During the sustainable
intensification program, government assistance succeeded in connecting men as
heirs of land and women culturally as pioneers, maintainers, and managers of
production, marketing, and agriculture, achieving an equal relationship between
men and women.
Institutional
The establishment
of joint business groups of coconut farmers in villages is designed to involve women farmers, and this organization has
strengthened the participation of women farmers in accelerating gender
transformation efforts. The
group, which consists of 10 members per hamlet per village, sets a schedule for
a joint work plan, calculates inputs and outputs for oil processing work, and
sells the oil produced. These groups provide a peer-to-peer learning space
among women farmers to improve their knowledge and skills
CONCLUSION
The
intensification of coconut plantations in Sarmi has
transformed traditional gender norms where maintaining crops and processing
coconuts were women's domestic roles. Now, women have become part of the
production class despite not holding land rights, reflecting a shift towards
more equitable roles. This transformation aligns with SDG 5 indicator 5.a.1,
although land ownership among women remains unfulfilled. Women farmers have
adopted new methods for processing coconut oil, deciding on income use, which
prioritizes household and educational needs. This participation supports SDG 8
indicator 8.1.1 (GDP per capita) and SDG 2 indicator 2.3.1 (production volume
per labor force), even though it has not been formally measured. The equal
workload distribution between men and women also highlights gender parity in
sustainable agricultural practices. Through the sustainable agriculture
intensification program, women have gained knowledge and increased productivity
by processing old coconuts into VCO, aligning with SDG 1 indicator 1.a.1
(government resource allocation for poverty eradication). However, challenges
remain in increasing coconut productivity and market access to secure stable
incomes, addressing SDG 10 indicator 10.1.1 (reducing disparities) and SDG 15
indicator 15.1.1 (forest area preservation). Women farmers seek government
support for the program's sustainability in knowledge improvement,
mechanization, financing, and marketing.
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Copyright holders:
Heince, Eleonora Sofilda (2024)
First publication
right:
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and Management Business