Who are the future farmers? Media representations of youth in agriculture, food security and ‘modern’ farming in Indonesia

Abstract

In Indonesia, state and non‐state actors frame youth attrition from agriculture as a food security concern and propose policy solutions focused on ‘modern’ farming techniques. Using a critical framing analysis of five national Indonesian news media sources from 2010 to 2020, we examine how government, development and private sector actors portray youth in agriculture, and the underlying assumptions that inform related policy and development agendas. Our analysis reveals contrasting portrayals of youth in agriculture. Youth are often depicted as averse to farming, while also being innovative adopters of modern farming techniques, equipment, and digital technologies. We argue that media frames reflect and reinforce the dominant discourses of state and non‐state actors, which have a productivist orientation, proposing technical, capital‐intensive agricultural solutions to food insecurity and related issues. News media pays comparatively less attention to structural barriers to youth entry and success in agriculture, such as limited access to land and finance and unfavourable terms of trade.

The Nexus between Food Security and Investment, Exports, Infrastructure, and Human Capital Development

“…Furthermore, the results of the Sargan test confirm the credibility of the instruments used in the GMM estimation process. Finally, we use the AR(1) and AR (2) values to examine the autocorrelation, shedding light on potential interdependencies among the variables. Together, this helps us ensure the robustness and reliability of the performance evaluation of the model.…”

“…Similarly, Indonesia's economic development agenda encompasses several objectives, including improving social welfare [1]. A crucial aspect is guaranteeing food security [2]. The social facet of food security can be divided into three parts: human health, demographics, and socio-political factors, including social conflicts and demographic phenomena [3,4].…”

“…First, we estimate the impact of economic activity across the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors on food security. The rapid transfer of labor from primary to secondary and tertiary activities suggests that labor mobility and structural changes may affect food security in Indonesia [2,34]. Second, we consider the impact of three sources of capital: direct investment (foreign and domestic), infrastructure investment, and human capital.…”

The Omnibus Law on Job Creation and its potential implications for rural youth and future farming in Indonesia

“…Uneven and highly differentiated political economies influence the uncertainty and labour precarity of youth (Sukarieh and Tannock, 2016), limiting rural youth's entry into farming. In the last decade, Indonesian policy frames have highlighted concerns about youth leaving farming, while seeking to enrol more youth to adopt modern farming techniques to enhance productivity and future food security (Toumbourou et al, 2023). These selective accounts framing Indonesian youth and young farmers as innovative and entrepreneurial overlook the structural obstacles to youth's farming and employment pathways (Sunam et al, 2021;White, 2021;Toumbourou et al, 2023).…”

“…In the last decade, Indonesian policy frames have highlighted concerns about youth leaving farming, while seeking to enrol more youth to adopt modern farming techniques to enhance productivity and future food security (Toumbourou et al, 2023). These selective accounts framing Indonesian youth and young farmers as innovative and entrepreneurial overlook the structural obstacles to youth's farming and employment pathways (Sunam et al, 2021;White, 2021;Toumbourou et al, 2023). Throughout Indonesia and rural Southeast Asia, expanding infrastructure, industrial plantations and extractive industries have reduced access to farming, but provided inadequate compensation and limited job opportunities for rural youth and farming families (Hall, 2011;Li, 2011Li, , 2017aPark and White, 2017;McCarthy, 2019;Kelley et al, 2020;Sinaga, 2021).…”