The shackles of the farming life<\/p>\n
By Muyanja Aba Ssenyonga<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): One day during a break in a Bahasa Indonesia
\nclass there was a seemingly relaxed boy in his late teens idling
\naway under the acacia shade on the campus grounds.<\/p>\n
He was slightly weighed down by a school bag strapped on his
\nslim slightly stooping shoulders; his pouted lips exhaled the
\nlast puff on a butt of a cigarette.<\/p>\n
As often is the case hereabouts, introducing each other's
\nparticulars, encompassing names, country of origin and religion,
\nbecame the pacesetter.<\/p>\n
The newly won pal was majoring in English, then barely more
\nthan a sophomore in the school of letters. His dwelling was in
\nthe vicinity of the campus, but uncharacteristically showed
\ndispleasure upon the suggestion of paying him a visit.<\/p>\n
Asked about the means of livelihood of his father, hesitation
\nwas very visible in his glistening eyes, but eventually he
\ndivulged in a low subdued tone that his father was wresting a
\nliving from an acreage of land, on the outskirts of Yogyakarta
\ncity.<\/p>\n
The main crop was paddy with various plants serving as
\nsecondary crops (palawija). He revealed happiness that emanated
\nfrom the realization of his father's promise that had he to
\nperform excellently and qualify for Gadjah Mada University here,
\nhis father would help him with Rp 100,000 for each semester.<\/p>\n
It was a little startling to find a father contributing barely
\nhalf of the cost for the education of his son's, moreover, his
\neldest. Where else would he turn for the remainder?<\/p>\n
But given the dynamics that highlight the livelihood of small
\nfarmers, credit is due to such a father and his brethren for the
\nbravery even to raise the much they do for their offspring.<\/p>\n
The student's intention was to master English, so he could
\nserve as a part-time teacher in one of the numerous English
\nacademies in this city. But of course less than a year's study at
\nthe university wasn't yet sufficient to equip him with the needed
\nexperience and valor.<\/p>\n
His hope, maybe consolation as well, was to accomplish that in
\na year or so.<\/p>\n
Nothing arouses more consternation than the constancy of the
\nsmall farmers' lot amidst rampant changes: at the periphery of
\nthings then, still languishing there, and possibly will be, for
\nsometime to come, unless draconian and drastic measures, though
\nbelated, salvage him.<\/p>\n
Despite the hike in prices of many other vital items in our
\nlives, ex-farm prices have barely changed. The downside to such a
\nsituation is that it is at the expense of the sector of our
\npopulation that can barely shoulder it, while the main
\nbeneficiaries are well-to-do broad-shouldered members of society.<\/p>\n
Factors attributable to the unfair farmer output prices range
\nfrom administered prices on farmers' output that keeps the
\nfarmer's revenue constant, despite spiraling inflation and the
\ngovernment subsidy on farm input prices implying that stable but
\nlow output prices are offset by low cost of production.<\/p>\n
Also, the government is resolved to keep urban workers and
\ndwellers satisfied by providing low priced consumer commodities
\nin sufficient quantities, averting any strikes that might
\njeopardize economic stability and growth.<\/p>\n
That tempers the justification for the urban workers and
\ndwellers to demand higher pay.<\/p>\n
Any stability in output prices in a world of even creeping
\ninflation, translates into lower real incomes and subsequent
\ndiminishing purchasing power, which underlies many a father's
\ninability to make both ends meet.<\/p>\n
Come harvest time and all the farmers enjoy is money illusion.
\nThe lion's share of the output is eaten up in repaying input
\nloans, landlord's share and the rest gobbled up by unscrupulous
\nvillage cooperatives. Moreover, the state's commitment to
\nstabilizing foodstuff prices through \"market operations\",
\nbolstered by importation, precludes any possibility for fair farm
\noutput prices. The noose on the farmer has never been tighter.<\/p>\n
It is another story if the government's objective underlying
\nsuch measures is to satisfy the formal sector thereby averting
\nclamors for higher pay.<\/p>\n
Cheap foodstuffs make middle and high-income earners enjoy
\nwindfalls of consumers' surplus.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the farmer's normal life is often characterized by
\nhigh illiquidity, inability to educate his children, the family
\never in brawls -- sparked off and sustained by pervasive
\ninadequacy and deprivation.<\/p>\n
Keeping prices of farm products down is politically sound in
\nthe short and medium-term to satisfy the well-organized
\nindustrial and urban workforce, as lack of it might spell
\ndisaster.<\/p>\n
Yet the achievement of that at the cost of shelving the
\ninterests of the largest section of the population signals a
\npotentially more latent long-term economic Pandora's box.<\/p>\n
Implications encompass high-income inequality, generally low
\npurchasing power and adverse feedback effects on the
\nsustainability of the economy.<\/p>\n
The farmer is still waiting patiently for the day when the
\nharped upon fruits of independence diminish the prevalent
\nsuffering punctuating his daily life.<\/p>\n
But like any man with nothing but hope to hang on, his
\npatience might one day reach the end of the tether. God forbid
\nthe day when all farmers leave the fields saying, \"To hell with
\nthe ani-ani (reaping knife), golok (machete), and the plow\"!<\/p>\n
The writer is a postgraduate student of economics at the
\nGadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.<\/p>",
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