In Indonesia, because of the rapidly growing demand for dairy products, the development of milk production in rural communities can play a strong role in reducing poverty. However, the development of smallholder dairy production requires adequate support from the government, development organizations, and private firms. To assess the needs and situations of poor dairy farmers, we conducted a study in Ciater sub-district in West Java Province to compare the current situation with the situation that prevailed 4 years ago, i.e., before the implementation of a dairy development project. Data were collected from 61 farms in June 2014. The average number of cows on the farms surveyed was three to four, and each relied on cultivating an average of 0.4 ha of forage. Results showed that thanks to the project activities, milk productivity per cow and net income from milk production increased by 25% between 2010 and 2014. These results underline the importance of providing training and technical support for the development of the livelihoods of dairy smallholders.

Smallholder farms represent the largest population of dairy cattle farms in Indonesia. Dairy activities can play an important role to secure the livelihood of smallholder farms. However, small farms face several constraints and challenges to be sustainable in the future. To assess the sustainability of smallholder dairy farms and to understand in what conditions farms are more sustainable, we conducted a study in two districts of the West Java Province. Our method was based on participatory meetings that allowed us to identify “critical features” of the local farming systems, and associated indicators. From discussions with local stakeholders, we proposed 6 “strategic indicators” of sustainability. Five of those indicators were related to the social and economic dimensions of sustainability, which appeared to be crucial in the local context. To assess the sustainability of farms based on those 6 indicators, we collected secondary data from the local cooperative, and carried out a formal field survey to 355 farmers from May to August 2015. Results showed that the most sustainable farms were those who had highest capital and diversified activity. Farms which had low capital but had additional activity were more sustainable than specialized ones. Whereas the level of farm income appears to be linked directly to farm capital, pluriactivity contributes to reduce risks related to dairy business and to gain benefit from synergies between activities. In the future, policies and projects to enhance farm capital and farmers’ pluriactivity will be needed to support the sustainability of smallholder farms.

Smallholder dairy farms encounter challenges in minimal production factors that result in a lack of family income. They react differently to these limits by combining on-farm and off-farm activities (diversifying activity), concentrating exclusively on milk production (specializing activity), or leaving the dairy production to secure family livelihood. As far as adaptive strategies are concerned, they may affect milk production growth at the farm and national levels. We performed an observational case study in the West Java Province (Indonesia) to resolve those problems. We gathered information in two phases: a systematic survey (May to September 2015) to 355 farms and an in-depth interview (January to April 2017) with 20 farms. Our result distinguishes four categories of farms, along with a very small specialized dairy farm (T1), a combination of the dairy farm off-farm activity with very limited land (T2), a small specialized dairy farm (T3), and a mixed crop-dairy farm (T4). The technical-economic value varies depending on the farm type. The six trajectories prevail. The main change was the addition of off-farm activities for poor farmers. Farms in the development trajectory, two strategies coexist between the dairy production system's specialization and the mixed crops-dairy system. In conclusion, this study underscored each farm trajectory's different attributes and drivers. The study also underlined the importance of the initial capital of smallholders to illustrate their future farm trajectory.

The Covid 19 pandemic has a broad impact on the agricultural sector. In the livestock sub-sector, there isusually an increase in demand for livestock and livestock products at certain moments, one of which is theEid al-Adha. However, the Eid al-Adha during the pandemic is different from the pre-pandemic period,affecting the demand and supply of qurban animals. This study was conducted to identify the impactof the Covid 19 pandemic on the value chain of the qurban animals. The research performed in-depthinterviews and an online survey with the actors along the chain and 29 Mahir Farm consumers. Theresults showed changes in supply, distribution, marketing, and demand compared to the pre-pandemiccondition. As a response, Mahir Farm improved the sales by using an online mode and created a TebarQurban program. Tebar Qurban is a program to optimize the qurban animals sales in the central ofproduction and suppliers to minimize the transportation cost. The adaptive strategies by improvingonline sales and the Tebar Qurban program’s procurement effectively enhanced the sales of qurbananimals during pandemic Covid 19. The study also confirms that there were changes in the buyingbehavior of qurban animals. Consumers preferred online purchasing compared to coming directly to thequrban stall. The payment system’s ease is the most crucial factor in influencing consumers’ decisions topurchase the qurban animal. This research underlines the importance of adaptive strategies to surviveduring a pandemic.

The extent of the Corona virus or Covid-19 in various countries, including in Indonesia, has impacted numerous sectors. The Covid-19 pandemic will have potentially caused changes to the normal food system for chicken meat commodities in Indonesia. Among them is a shift in consumer behaviour in getting access to chicken meat. Consumers’ online purchase intention is seen as an appropriate alternative during the pandemic, especially for consumers in the red zones. This study was conducted to analyse factors that impact online purchase intention on Chicken meat during the pandemic. This research uses data survey of 316 consumers in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok (Red zone areas). The analysis used is SEM using AMOS software. The results show that there are situation impact and hedonic influence towards online purchase intention of the chicken meat during the pandemic. We provide recommendation for companies on how to address consumers purchase motives.