Poverty is the root of various social issues. Poverty causes a person to be unable to properly support himself or his family, giving rise to various social problems, such as gender inequality, child labor, early marriage, and poor nutrition and public health. Therefore, poverty alleviation is on the agenda of all countries that want to create a prosperous society and sustainable development. Indonesia itself targets that there will be no more extreme poverty by 2030, and more than that, Indonesia has a vision to have an economy that grows 5.7% per year, so that it can become the country with the 5th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2045.
Start from villages
To realize this ambition, it is impossible to rule out the development of rural areas, given that about 91% of the total area of Indonesia is rural areas. Indonesia has 74,961 villages spread across 416 districts. As stated in Ministry of Village website, around 43% of Indonesia’s population lives in villages.
Ironically, with an almost equal population, the poverty rate in rural areas is higher than in urban areas. In 2021, extreme poverty in Indonesia has reached 4% of the total population or around 10.9 million people, and most of them live in villages. The Central Bureau of Statistics also noted that in March 2022, the number of poor people in rural areas was 14.34 million people, or 17.6% higher than in urban areas.
BPS data shows that more than half of poor households work in the agricultural sector, and as many as 46.2 percent of the 40 percent of the population with the lowest income are currently farmers. In general, income from agriculture is lower than income in other sectors, and has not been able to provide a decent income for life and offset inflation that occurs every year.
One of the factors causing poverty among farmers is the lack of assets, including agricultural land. When agricultural land is considered unproductive, or farming is no longer profitable, farmers usually choose to switch to other commodities. Apart from that, in a number of villages, inheritance system is still practiced, in which parents will later divide the agricultural land they own among their children. As a result, the management area per family is getting narrower.
The lack of infrastructure in a number of villages and village locations which are generally difficult to reach are also factors in the low income of farmers, as happens in tea-producing villages. Difficult geographical conditions make tea farmers very dependent on agents or middlemen to sell their agricultural products. As a result, farmers do not have good access to alternative markets or buyers, and are powerless to negotiate prices set by agents or middlemen.
Despite the low income from agriculture, the profession of farmer was considered by villagers to be the most realistic, because there was not much work for them to do in the village. Villages have always been proud of their natural resources. However, the minimalist infrastructure makes large-scale industries or businesses have to think twice about developing their business in the village. Moreover, half of the workforce in rural areas only have primary education or even lower. The low level of education makes it difficult for rural communities to enter the formal labor market.
Leaving villagers without options to increase their income will exacerbate social and environmental issues, not only in villages, but also in cities. Bappenas projects that urbanization will continue to increase. Village demographics are getting older, and it’s getting harder to adapt to this digital era. Poverty will continue to exist in villages, while in cities problems of waste, housing and unemployment will increase.
Rural women are vulnerable to poverty
Women are a group that is very at risk of receiving the negative impacts of poverty. Only about 67% of the poorest households have access to proper sanitation. Whereas women need more water than men to maintain their health. Limited access to sanitation and clean water makes women vulnerable to various health problems.
In addition, low income is one of the causes of low family nutritional intake. Nutritional intake of women, especially pregnant women, is closely related to the safety of the mother and fetus, as well as the prevalence of stunting.
Despite experiencing many negative impacts from poverty, the majority of village women are powerless to lift themselves out of poverty. Especially in areas where patriarchal culture is still strong, women are considered as second-class people. Women are expected to stay at home and take care of the household more, and men earn a living. Ironically, not a few women still perceive this gender inequality as fate, something that is normal and appropriate.
In poor families, the limitation of opportunities for women is even more pronounced. There is an opinion that girls are a burden, and marrying them off is a way to reduce the burden on the family. Sending girls to school is also seen as a waste because in the end women are seen as only taking care of the household. Parents from poor families choose to send their sons to school in the hope that it will improve family welfare. Rural women take an average of only 7.16 years of formal education; 2 years shorter than women in the city.
Low education and lack of experience are challenges for village women to work. In fact, there are conditions where they must be prepared at any time to take over the role as the main breadwinner, for example when the head of the family – who is usually a man – falls ill or is no longer able to work, or when the needs increase and the family’s income is no longer sufficient.
Empowering women to reduce poverty
The inability of women to participate actively and equally in the economy increases the burden on productive population. This condition can hinder village progress, and exacerbate the village poverty cycle. Supporting women to gain access to a decent income, thereby improving their living conditions, is an important way to fulfil women’s rights, while reducing poverty.
One way that can be done is by introducing alternative sources of income that are suitable with the current conditions and capacities of the majority of village women, such as the micropreneur system implemented by Teh nDeso. The Teh nDeso micropreneur system does not set rigid targets or working hours, so most people are able to do it.
Teh nDeso is a tea brand who sources its tea from smallholders’ farms. As a business operating in the tea sector, Teh nDeso views women as vital figures in realizing its vision. Most of the people’s tea pickers are women. Not only upstream, women are also involved in various downstream activities, such as tea processing, packing and distribution.
[1] https://www.sdg2030indonesia.org/page/9-tujuan-satu
[2] https://ppid.kemendesa.go.id/berita/detail/472
[3] https://tnp2k.go.id/acceleration-policies/pengurangan-kemiskinan-ekstrem-di-7-provinsi-dan-35-kabupaten-prioritas-tahun-2021
[4] BPS. Laporan Bulanan Data Sosial Ekonomi Juli 2022
[5] BPS. 2021. Penghitungan dan Analisis Kemiskinan Makro Indonesia
[6] Bappenas. Ringkasan Eksekutif Visi Indonesia 2045
[7] BPS. Indikator Pasar Tenaga Kerja Indonesia Februari 2022
[8] Bappenas. Ringkasan Eksekutif Visi Indonesia 2045
[9] Bappenas. Ringkasan Eksekutif Visi Indonesia 2045
[10] https://www.bps.go.id/indikator/indikator/view_data/0000/data/1272/sdgs_6/1
[11] https://nationalgeographic.grid.id/read/13294004/wanita-butuh-konsumsi-air-lebih-banyak-dari-pria
[12] https://www.bps.go.id/indicator/5/1320/1/proporsi-penduduk-dengan-asupan-kalori-minimum-di-bawah-1400-kkal-kapita-hari-menurut-kelompok-pengeluaran.html
[13] https://www.kemenkopmk.go.id/menko-pmk-penanganan-kemiskinan-kunci-penurunan-stunting
[14] Kemenppa. Profil Perempuan Indonesia 2020
