The Effects of the Transmigration Programme on Poverty Reduction in Indonesia’s Gorontalo Province: A Multidimensional Approach

Abstract

The transmigration program in Gorontalo Province plays an important role in poverty reduction. The districts of Gorontalo and Boalemo, as a part of Gorontalo Province, were purposefully selected as research locations. A total of 240 respondents of transmigrant and local households were interviewed using a questionnaire containing a list of questions with a 5-Likert scale. The objectives of this research are: (1) to measure the multidimensional poverty level of transmigrant and local households, (2) to determine the impact of the transmigration program on poverty reduction and (3) to identify the factors that influence poverty status of transmigrant and local households. The results show that the poverty level of transmigrant households tends to be lower than local households. The longer the placement of transmigration, the more likely it is to reduce regional poverty levels. The health dimension has a high contribution to the cause of poverty of transmigrants, while the education dimension contributes to the highest cause of poverty of local households. The results of the analysis also show that farmers who are more educated, participate in skills training and have a side business have more opportunity to reduce poverty. The study confirms that the transmigration program has a significant impact on poverty reduction in the region.