AJAD Volume 12 Issue No. 2 December 2015

The prevailing assumption among consumers in the North is that buying certified coffee contributes positively to the economic performance of Southern actors, particularly smallholder farmers. In this paper we examine the impact of coffee certification on the economic performance of Indonesian actors (farmers, traders, exporters, and Indonesian roasters) and analyze how economic rent is distributed among them. Questionnaire results and in-depth interviews revealed that all Indonesian actors benefit financially from certification on a price per kilogram measurement, but the differences between certified and non-certified actors are small. The paper finds that the economic rent from certification is distributed very unequally along the coffee value chain where roasters receive 95.46 percent (Robusta) and 83.66 percent (Arabica) of the total economic rent (retailers excluded). Overall, farmers enjoy a small direct benefit from certification in the form of a higher price per kilogram for their coffee, and possible benefits regarding increased productivity and quality resulting from training and advice in crop management.

The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community 2015 (AEC) is seen as a bold effort to promote regional cooperation among the ASEAN member states. It covers not only the usual trade policy prescriptions of lowering tariffs and other trade barriers, but other policy measures to create a single market for unhampered flow of goods, services, investments, labor, and capital. With the ASEAN countries' extensive intra- and extra-regional trade in agricultural products, the AEC can help further facilitate trade under its first pillar of economic integration. There also remains greater prospects for cooperation on technology transfer, facilitating regional investments in agricultural industries, strengthening agricultural cooperatives, trade in services allied with modern agricultural sectors, and food and nutrition security.

Indonesia is challenged by a shortage of soybean production to meet local demand. The Ministry of Agriculture has developed a strategy to increase soybean production through an integrated crop management (ICM) program, which was implemented through a farmer field school (FFS) approach in 2008. This paper aims to evaluate the performance of FFS-ICM implementation in two of the main areas for soybean production—Grobogan Regency in Central Java Province and West Lombok Regency in West Nusa Tenggara Province. Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews of 120 farmers. The before and after performance of the FFS-ICM program was evaluated using paired sample t-tests. The study found that FFS-ICM has increased soybean productivity significantly both in Grobogan Regency (1,854 kg/ha) and West Lombok Regency (1,492 kg/ha). However, this was less than the optimal productivity, which can reach 2,490 kg/ha in Grobogan Regency and 1,680 kg/ ha in West Lombok Regency, therefore a soybean productivity gap remains. In order to improve the implementation of soybean FFS-ICM, four policy recommendations were suggested: improving the understanding of extension workers and participant farmers on the philosophy of FFS to dispel the perception that FFS-ICM is "an aid distribution" project; intensive assistance and monitoring by field extension workers during the FFS-ICM implementation; ensuring that inputs (especially seeds) are available on time by strengthening breeding institutions at the local level; and strengthening the research and dissemination of new high-yielding varieties that are suited to local agroecosystems and in accordance with market demand.

Agricultural extension in Indonesia has undergone major policy changes, depending on the government in power. In particular, since 1998, the government passed Law No 16/2006, aimed at making the extension system more democratic and participatory, especially for smallholder farmers. Law No. 16/2006 is in line with the “pluralistic and demand-driven extension approach” adopted by many developing countries since 2000, which allowed public and private extension systems to exist side-byside. Success of the new extension approach rests on the degree to which extension workers are able to mobilize smallholder farmers for "demand-driven" development that bases extension on smallholder farmers’ needs. This survey of 78 public extension workers in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia examined challenges in implementing the pluralistic and demand-driven extension approach, including training needed to help extension workers deal more effectively with these challenges. The study found that the challenges relate to agreeing on extension goals; eliciting collaboration with non-government agencies and other development partners; and using ICTs to narrow the farmers-to-agent ratio. In general, the study found that extension workers need training in communication and development, also known as communication for development (C4D) to effectively facilitate development and navigate the increasing complexity of development programming in the 21st century. Thus, we recommend C4D training for extension workers as a way of enhancing their effectiveness. Fortunately, the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are promoting this strategy. Therefore, we urge the government of Indonesia to explore C4D as a strategy for strengthening extension in the country.

Root and tuber crops (RTCs) are underground crops with only their leaves visibly acknowledging their existence to the outside world. We have always known RTCs as possessing some food value; can be grown easily in almost any type of agro-ecological setting within different types of cropping systems; can be relied upon to fill the need in times of food shortage; have some harvest-sharing and cultural significance. We also know, however, the perception of RTCs as "poor man's food," thus, not a preferred one. These are "facts of life" about RTCs in the past, so to speak. But in recent times, what functions do RTCs perform in providing livelihood and food security? Where there is an "overlap between RTC productionconsumption and poverty-food insecurity," do RTCs play a significant role in addressing the latter?

The Food Security through Asian Roots and Tubers (FoodSTART) project with funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is being implemented by the International Potato Center since 2011 to 2015 "to promote the role of root and tuber crops in building more diverse and sustainable agri-food systems toward ensuring food security among Asia-Pacific poor producers and consumers in the face of socio-economic and agro-environmental changes."

The purpose of the paper is to describe the impact of community-led action research on food security and poverty alleviation on the production decisions and food adjustment strategies of farmers in a grain-producing village in northwest Bangladesh. The study used a mixed method approach with 80 respondents for the quantitative part (survey), which are distributed equally between gono-gobeshona participants and non-participant groups, and 30 for the qualitative part (10 in-depth interviews, 4 key informant interviews, 4 focus groups, and 10 case studies). Survey responses were analyzed using SPSS software and content analysis framework was used for qualitative data. The findings show that far more households who participated in the from the gono-gobeshona make joint decisions (by both husband and wife) in various aspects of production than non-participants. Women as authority figures were higher in number among the participants than the non-participants and more households in the non-participant group considered the husband as the authority figure. Finally, the community-led action research process met sustainability features and was inclusive across social positions.

A great book to read for all students of food and agriculture. It is a history book above all else, but like most good history, many of the stories it contains are highly relevant to today’s policy debates

Timmer provides an excellent review and synthesis of the challenges and solutions to reducing hunger and improving food security, importantly emphasizing the need to rely on markets together with government provision of public goods such as agricultural research and development (R&D) and rural roads and other infrastructure in order to generate agricultural production growth and stimulate structural transformation to make big improvements in food security. A wide range of readers will benefit from this book, first and foremost students of agriculture and economic development.