Dusung Agroforestry Systems on Ambon Island, Central Maluku, Indonesia: Sustainable Livelihoods, Land Property Rights, and Poverty Reduction

Abstract

Forest land conversion into rice fields, palm oil, and mining caused unsustainable development, deforestation, local wisdom undermining, and persistent poverty in Maluku, Eastern Indonesia. We describe, redefine, and promote the Dusung agroforestry systems. This indigenous technology of Ambon Island is sustainable, fits the local environment, and is adaptable to community resilience to manage external disruptions. We used a partial least square-structural equational model to examine associations among land property rights, plant biodiversity, productivity, livelihoods, and poverty reduction. We surveyed 139 selected heads of households from four villages through in-depth interviews, field observation, and focus group discussions. Dusung agroforestry systems (DAFs) comprise five interdependent subsystems, from the forest to the coast, driven by embedded local values to avoid excessive land and aquatic resource use. Average annual household income from DAFs was above the poverty line, but the poverty rate was high. Agriculture, fishery, and nonfarm are complementary livelihood strategies to support household income. Per the model, secure land property rights and productivity have high performance to support agricultural income and to reduce poverty. This implies that the DAFs should improve as the guardian of community resilience to maintain sustainable ecology and poverty reduction on small islands.