Agroforestry development in Lake Toba catchment area: Farmer’s perception and interest

Abstract

The Lake Toba Catchment Area (LTCA) has degraded due to a lack of implementation of conservation principles. Agroforestry is one of the land-use techniques with a conservation approach. Agroforestry development in LTCA should be supported by stakeholders, especially farmers. Farmers’ support will be formed if they have a good perception and interest in developing the agroforestry systems. The study aims to determine farmers’ characteristics, perceptions, and interests in agroforestry development in LTCA. The study was conducted from July until August 2019 at Simalungun Regency, North Sumatra Province. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews using a questionnaire with 30 respondents. Measurement of farmers’ perception and interest use a Likert scale. The data were then analyzed descriptively. The results showed that the farmers’ age is dominated by the productive phase (30-50 years old); they are only completed elementary schools, with average landholding was <0.3 ha, and farming experience >10 years. Farmers’ perceptions and interests in agroforestry development in LTCA are in good categories, each with a score of 4.18. These perceptions and interests of farmers are supporting factors that would positively impact the development of sustainable agroforestry in LTCA.

The Patterns of Agroforestry and Its Contribution to the Community Income

“…Respondents most completed elementary school (66.13%), which is a low formal education. This situation is similar to the findings of Dewi et al (2021), where farmers in Pondok Buluh Village, North Sumatera, also have low education levels, mainly because they graduated from primary school to junior high school. The farmers in Talang Mulya Village, Bandar Lampung, have experienced 15 years of education level or finish their education until junior high school (Santoso et al 2023).…”

“…In Talang Mulya village Bandar Lampung, Lampung, the agroforestry farmer's age ranges from 27-72 years old (Santoso et al 2023). In Pondok Buluh village Simalungun District, North Sumatera, agroforestry activities are dominantly conducted by people aged 30-50 years old (Dewi et al 2021). Align with this finding, the agroforestry farmers' age in Mount Merapi ranges from 28-40 years old (Rozaki et al 2021).…”

“…In New Juabeng Municipality, Ghana, Cocoa farmers have a 1-25 ha farm area (Kaba et al 2020). Agroforestry farmers in Sao Paulo state South-West Brazil work in 6-29 ha of agricultural area (Shennan-Farpón et al 2022), while in Pondok Buluh Village, Simalungun District, North Sumatera, the agricultural area owned by the farmer is less than 0.5 ha (Dewi et al 2021).…”

Clusterization of Agroforestry Farmers using K-Means Cluster Algorithm and Elbow Method

“…Agroforestry farmers around Tahura WAR are dominated by men, which is similar to conditions in other places in Lampung, elsewhere in Indonesia, and several other countries (Desalgne et al 2022;Fauziyah 2018;Gebrehiwot et al 2018;Kalanzi et al 2020;Manginsela et al 2021;Susanti et al 2021). The age of agroforestry farmers around Tahura WAR is also dominated by the older farmers, with a few young farmers (≤ 30 years), that was similar to several areas in Indonesia and other countries (Burano and Siska 2019;Dewi et al 2021;Pujiono et al 2021;Rozaki et al 2021;Sauvadet et al 2020).…”

Development Strategies of Oelsonbai Research Center Scientific Tourism in KHDTK Oelsonbai Kupang

“…From online questionnaires that had been distributed, most of those filled out were already working, while university students' responses were very poor and tended to ignore. People who are well educated and have more knowledge will communicate well (Dewi et al 2021). All respondents in this study had a minimum of high school education and considered a critical mindset.…”