Deagrarianization Problem and The Implications on Agricultural Policy in Indonesia

Abstract

This paper discusses the existence of Indonesia as an agrarian country in Southeast Asia amid the threat of deagrarianization that is occuring worldwide. Deagrarianization is a terminology to explain the transition from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector which occurs widely in various rural areas of the world. This study uses the Grant approach by combining the results of statistical quantitative studies to provide a more complete and clear explanation of the symptoms of deagrarianization in macro perspective. The results showed that deagrarianization is ongoing in Indonesia. This can be seen from the six main indicators, namely: a decrease in GDP from the agricultural sector, a decrease of farming households, a decrease in the number of rurals, a decline in rural population, a decrease in labor participation in the agricultural sector, and a decrease in the extent of agricultural land. Those indicators show that agriculture is no longer a primary sector, but turned into a secondary sector instead. For agrarian countries, the transition of the agricultural sector to the non-agrarian sector becomes an important signal that agriculture is in a precarious condition. Deagrarianization is very potential to widening the disparity between the poor and the rich class in rural communities. If this situation gets worse, in macro’s perspective, it will give a greater impact on Indonesia's food security as an agrarian country.