Livelihood strategies of transmigrant farmers in peatland of Central Kalimantan

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the field survey on 108 migrant farmers in the four ex-transmigration settlements constructed in the peat-soil areas in the province of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Our major findings are that (1) sales of agricultural produce accounted for less than one-quarter of cash earnings of our respondents, (2) many respondents had given up, or were giving up rice cultivation, (3) in the near future, rubber may become a large cash-income source for the farmers in the study area, and (4) industrial oil-palm plantations are altering the agricultural scene of the peat-soil area in Central Kalimantan.