Head of the BRIN's Community and Cultural Research Center, Lilis Mulyani, said that the declining numbers of agricultural villages has become a concern in Indonesia's development.
"This is a very worrying phenomenon. In fact, our nation is very dependent on agricultural production," she added during a cultural discussion, which was followed from Jakarta on Monday.
Moreover, Mulyani said that the current increase in rice prices reflects the turmoil in the agricultural sector, which has been affected by global prices and phenomena such as the climate crisis.
According to her, farmers in villages are currently experiencing several pressures, which are making them and the next generation think twice about continuing their livelihood as farmers.
"We see that the number of farmers has almost decreased by a third in the last decade," Mulyani highlighted.
An academic from National Land College (STPN), Dewi Wulan Pujiriyani, revealed that Indonesia has experienced a shifting of social structure from an agrarian society to a non-agrarian society, or deagrarianization.
According to her, the phenomenon places agriculture not as a primary sector, but as a tertiary sector, with non-agricultural activities becoming increasingly important in rural areas.
"This deagrarianization has a serious impact that will occur when the process of losing land (begins) and in the end, farmers have to lose the choice that they farm or not farm," Pujiriyani said.
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Translator: Sugiharto Purnama, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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