Indonesia is an archipelago with significant variations in natural resources, infrastructure, socioeconomic, culture, human resource capacity, accessibility, and access to financial and technical assistance. In this situation, integrated and unique efforts are needed to manage natural resources and build synergy between their protection and utilization to achieve water, energy, and food (WEF) security in accordance with the SDG targets. This paper analyzes the implementations of the WEF nexus in rural Indonesia by examining existing legal frameworks and other related policies, journals, textbooks, and publications. We explore factors influencing the success and failure of the implementation of the WEF nexus approaches from technical, socioeconomic, cultural, political, and institutional perspectives of the rural development framework.

The trade relationship between small-scale growers and processing companies often plays an important role in determining the nature and extent of benefi ts derived from commercial forestry, and the distribution of these benefi ts. Many strategies are used by individual small-scale growers, village communities, companies and government agencies to form partnerships to undertake commercial forestry-including outgrower schemes, land leasing by companies, and using intermediary brokers between small-scale growers and processors. This article reports on the key fi ndings of a three-year research project that explored different business partnerships used in commercial forestry in Australia and Indonesia, and identifi ed the critical factors for benefi cial and enduring partnerships. The key lessons from this research are that, for many small-scale growers to form successful partnerships with other investors, they need: • increased knowledge of the operations and components of commercial forestry; • improved access to competitive markets; • increased knowledge of the dynamics of forest product markets; • improved capacity of local farmer forest groups to share experiences and information, and build their knowledge of commercial forestry; and • reduced administrative and fi nancial burden imposed by government on small-scale forestry operations.

Growing trees on farmland continues to be a promising land-use option for smallholders in Indonesia as they look to diversify their enterprises beyond the main agricultural sector. While most smallholders integrate trees into their farming systems, selling timber and other tree products has usually been infrequent and opportunistic. Because of this infrequent trade, most smallholders rarely adopt silvicultural practices that would increase the commercial value of their trees. A research project trialled an alternative approach to forestry extension in Indonesia, known as the Master TreeGrower (MTG) training course. The MTG training courses used a farmer-centred approach to teach smallholders about forest science and took participants to market hubs so they could better understand how different forest products were valued by traders. The MTG training approach was trialled in 2014 in five districts in Indonesia and involved 118 smallholders and 27 non-farmers as course participants. This article reports on a recent evaluation of the MTG training courses held about three years earlier to explore the enduring impacts of the training approach and whether it can be scaled-out to other areas of Indonesia. The evaluation data were collected via focus group discussions (FGDs), in-depth interviews, household surveys and observations at three project sites: Pati (Central Java), Gunungkidul (Yogyakarta) and Bulukumba (South Sulawesi). A questionnaire was distributed among the participants of the FGDs to assess the extent different knowledge and skills of tree management that had been adopted by them following the MTG courses. The evaluation of the MTG approach revealed that the courses were effective in increasing smallholders' knowledge of commercial forestry and their silvicultural skills. Many participants were more active with silviculture and planned to invest further in commercial forestry following the MTG training. In effect, the MTG training appeared to change the hearts and minds of the farmers about how commercial forestry could enhance their livelihoods.

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Encouraging smallholders to diversify their livelihoods has been a long-held policy objective of many governments to create resilient rural communities that can cope with seasonal variations in food production and price fluctuations in commercial markets. Due to the dynamic nature of smallholders' livelihoods, the relative contribution of different sources to household income often remains unclear. Recent research in Indonesia used a household survey of a stratified sample of smallholders (n = 240) in eight villages (five districts) to obtain data of smallholders' income and the relative importance of agroforestry. The research analysed income data from the same households (80%) collected in 2013, 2017 and 2020, providing longitudinal data of livelihoods and household income. Results revealed important information about the nature of Indonesia's rural economy, whereby many smallholders received most of their income from off-farm sources (56% of income). While most smallholders still reported farming as their primary occupation, their families' livelihoods are diverse and mainly supported by non-farm enterprises. Even the mix of farming enterprises is evolving, with agroforestry a prominent land-use and source of household income in Indonesia (29% of income), indicating that smallholders are intentionally diversifying their land-use and livelihoods. Our research found that conventional agricultural enterprises generated just 14% of household income, yet remains vital for household food security. The high proportion of off-farm income for smallholders has important implications for land management and rural development across Indonesia, as smallholders forgo intensification of their farming systems and instead opt for diversification-and at scale, creating resilient landscapes and livelihoods.