Sustainable agriculture appreciates the development of cultural values that come from the community local wisdom. Cultural values can be an intrinsic motivation that underlies the community’s agricultural techniques. This motivation is relatively strong in small island communities who have limited land and water resources for agricultural activities. This study aims to reveal and review the intrinsic motivation in the sustainable agriculture of small island communities. The research was conducted from April 2018 to April 2019 on Binongko Island, Wakatobi Regency, South east Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Data were collected through observation, interviews and literature study using the data triangulation method. The results showed that the Binongko community were intrinsically motivated by the desire to be winners (hoppotallo) in conquering natural challenges on land (rocky rocks) and oceans (high waves). This desire is based on the spiritual belief about God’s power and the awareness to work hard as expressed in the ancient philosophy of society “wale menturu wale bhila, mayi wale mangare wale mo’aro”. This motivation drives them to cultivate plants with rituals such as bhelai, phitado, honowu/katambhari, bhija-bhija/bhatata, pajare’a, phidawu-phidongka and tompe’a. The motivation in agricultural culture has social, economic and ecological implications that support a sustainable agricultural development system.

The study determines the structure and strategy of livelihood and household welfare of crab fishermen after the revitalization of Kendari Bay. Determination of the research area is done purposively. The population and sample in this study were fishermen who persisted in using Kendari Bay as a location for catching crabs after the sedimentation and reclamation of Kendari Bay to meet family needs. The data analysis used is qualitative analysis to determine the strategy and structure of fishermen’s livelihood and quantitative research to assess household welfare by calculating fishermen’s income which will be compared with the regional minimum wage. The results showed that the livelihood structure of crab fishermen consisted of on-farm (fishery sector) as mud crab fishermen and non-farm (non-fishery sector) as construction workers, company workers, and the wages for ship work that were carried out erratically every month. The crab fisherman’s livelihood strategy is a double income pattern where the fisherman and his wife work in the non-fishery sector to meet their household needs and migrate by mobility or moving to other areas outside the Kendari Bay coast. The income of crab fishermen from catching crabs in Kendari Bay (fishery sector) is IDR2.379.859 and working in the non-fishery sector is IDR1.319.375. Hence, the total household income of crab fishermen is IDR3.699.234, higher than the minimum wage of Kendari City in 2022, IDR2.823.315, so the crab fishing households are still categorized as prosperous.

Bhenta-bhanto is local wisdom in catching octopus by fishermen from small islands in the Wakatobi Archipelago. This study aims to explain the mechanism of the bhenta-bhanto’s local wisdom and to find out the differences in fisherman income before and after the local wisdom is applied. The research occurred in Darawa Village, South Kaledupa District, Wakatobi Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. The research was conducted in March-December 2021. Research data were collected through observation, interviews, and literature study. Data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using income analysis and Paired Sample T-Test. Based on the results of this study, it is known that the bhenta-bhanto is local wisdom in the form of an open and closed system for octopus fishing areas. The paired sample T-Test analysis shows differences in the income of octopus fishermen when the local wisdom of bhenta-bhanto is applied and when the local wisdom is not.

The communities of small islands have local wisdom in the agroforestry system as a form of adaptation to agricultural technology in a dry land with dry climates. This study aims to find and explain agroforestry systems based on local wisdom in small islands. The study was conducted in April-December 2021. The case study is located on Wangi-Wangi Island, Wakatobi Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province with the consideration that this area can represent the characteristics of the agroforestry system in small island communities in the Southeast Sulawesi archipelago. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and literature studies using the triangulation method. Data were analyzed descriptively and qualitatively using historical and phenomenological approaches. The results showed that there were agroforestry systems based on local wisdom, namely weli’a, rawu’a, and ontoala. The three systems are applied to different topographical characteristics of the land and have been proven to be socially, economically, and ecologically beneficial.

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