2 - Agriculture Transformation and Rural Economic Security in Central Java, Indonesia

Recent decades have witnessed rapid socio-economic transformations worldwide. Economic growth and population dynamics are key to transformations now taking place. Changing demographic structures and new patterns of urbanization present policy makers and planners with both challenges and opportunities. Rural towns and small cities can play crucial roles in structural and rural development by creating agricultural potency. Agriculture transformation involves a shift from mainly subsistence farming to commercial highly diversified production systems. It joins in with rural transformation that includes the emergence of livelihoods and income generating opportunities in the rural nonfarm sector.

As one of the most densely populated islands in Indonesia, Java has seen significant changes in its rural-urban landscape over the past few decades. This study explores the factors and implications of agricultural transformation and economic development in rural areas. So, this study examines the benefits of these transformations to the entire rural society, especially farmers, by enabling all to exercise their economic abilities and take advantage of local opportunities with agriculture sector due to global economic challenges.

The initial findings of this study shows that the challenge of rural transformation, especially in the agricultural sector, is the shrinking land quality, which has an impact on the economic decline of rural communities. Yet at the same time, farmers are also transforming from on-farm activities to off-farm activities such as tourism. These conditions point to the ways that economic security in rural communities can be addressed in the context of expanding urban areas and erosion of agricultural areas.

Co-Author 1
Alif Asniati, Diponegoro University