Food Insecurity and Agribusiness Expansion in Papua, Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia's Papua region has experienced rapid economic development in the last decade through massive investment in the agricultural sector and infrastructure development. Although the industrial agri-food has expanded in the region, Papua has the highest rank of food insecurity at the national level. This paper intends to describe a paradox in an agribusiness frontier where (food) commodity production creates food insecurity at the local level. The agribusiness development has rearranged the natural resources governance and labour relations, which, in turn, limits local communities' access to food sources and compels them to enter commodity relations in providing food. Penetration of market relations does not resolve existing food insecurity. On the contrary, it creates a new kind of food vulnerability. The analysis presented here is based on a literature review on agricultural development and primary data gathered from ethnographic fieldwork in West Papua Province in 2017.

Land Contestation and Identity: Agrarian Conflict Between Maluku Indigenous Communities and State Authorities in A Sociological Perspective

“…In addition to the ambiguity of land ownership status, Grasse (2022) highlights the significant role of industrial expansion in exacerbating agrarian conflicts in Indonesia. In this context, the Omnibus Law on Job Creation (UU Cipta Kerja) provides ease for investors to invest in Indonesia, yet often without seriously considering potential agrarian conflicts arising from the development of industrial infrastructure (Abdulgani et al, 2023). Dharmawan et al (2020) added that factors driving industrial expansion, as well as its impacts on agrarian conflicts in sectors such as palm oil plantations, mining, and other industries.…”