Factors Affecting Agroforestry Farmers’ Capacity Surrounding National Park

Abstract

The rural communities living around the National Park are generally farmers. They are less empowered and classified as poor. This is due to the relatively low capacity of the farmers. In order to be more empowered, the farmers need to improve their capacity. This study aimed to analyze the factors that directly and indirectly affect the capacity building of agroforestry farmers around the National Park. This study was conducted in Kuningan and Majalengka Districts of West Java Province for four months, from July to October 2017. This research used cluster random sampling technique based on the location of agroforestry Forest Farmer Group (FFG) in the buffer zone of Gunung Ciremai National Park. The sample size was 310 members of agroforestry Forest Farmer Group. Results show that the capacity of agroforestry farmers around the National Park was low. This is due to the low level of formal education, farming experience, cosmopolitan level, and small sized farmland of farmers. It is also caused by low environmental support factors (economic accessibility, ecological conditions, FFG role) and low participation of farmers in agroforestry both economically and socially.

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

“…Another characteristic is the low formal education of agroforestry farmers, which is also found in various regions (Akinwalere and Okunlola 2019;Kaba et al 2020;Nuryati et al 2019;Shennan-Farpón et al 2022;Suyadi et al 2019). The low level of farmer education indicated the low level of farming family welfare and the potential for land management and obtained income.…”

Traditional Subsistence Farming of Smallholder Agroforestry Systems in Indonesia: A Review

“…The dominant species are plants that can be consumed in the form of food crops. Farmers who have narrow lands prefer to grow various types of crops to meet subsistence needs and, at the same time, have savings [113], although some farmers replace traditional crops such as rice, corn, and vegetables with valuable commercial crops such as taro, pineapple, banana, papaya, and teak trees [105]. The area of land managed by farmers can come from their own land, a rental system, or profit-sharing.…”

“…The variables affecting the income of agroforestry farmers are age, plantation area, number of workers, ethnicity, religion, land slope, and credit assistance [160]. Agroforestry farmers develop their businesses by only relying on personal and family capital [113]. They do not rely on capital support from public, private, and/or cooperative financial institutions.…”

“…The knowledge and skills involved in cultivating timber and agriculture are obtained by farmers from their parents and other ancestors from childhood onward [101], and on average, farmers have to manage community forests for more than twenty years. Experience in agroforestry agriculture can support the process of increasing a farmer's capacity [113].…”

“…Market certainty is an aspect that affects farmer motivation. Points of access to the market from agroforestry areas may also be considered by farmers [113]. Although agroforestry has various benefits for smallholders, local governments usually prefer oil palm plantations over agroforestry because they possess higher potential income [163].…”