Why West Kalimantan rubber farmers remain shackled by poverty
Why West Kalimantan rubber farmers remain shackled by poverty
By Edi Patebang
SANGGAU, West Kalimantan (JP): Cockcrows in the small hours
wake up Linjang (50 years old) from his deep slumber. Without
washing his face, and while waiting for his spouse to serve him a
glass of hot coffee, he prepares his knife -- specially designed
for sapping latex -- along with his other equipment.
Around 5 a.m., the poultry descend from tree-branches, crowing
and cackling to welcome the dawn. After gulping down his coffee,
Linjang then starts to plod along to his rubber plantation some
two kilometers away from his home.
This is his regular activity for six days a week. After a
week's work of sapping latex, he dries it in the sun. After
weighing the rubber he then sells it to his tauke (normally a
Chinese boss who buys local strategic commodities) at the village
for Rp 2,000 per kilogram.
He makes a relatively good income. Every day he can collect
some six kilograms of dried latex, equivalent to 36 kilograms per
week, which means he pulls in Rp 216,000. Apart from this, he
also collects some 20 kilograms of second-rate latex per day.
This lower grade latex is known as jinton in the Dayak Kanayatn
dialect. He sells the jinton at Rp 1200 per kilogram, giving him
further additional income of Rp 24,000 a week.
After debts have been paid, the monthly net income amounts to
zero. To feed seven mouths (five children, a wife and himself),
to pay for his children's school fees and medication, Linyang
needs to borrow or get his daily needs from his boss -- a common
sight in remote areas.
And, unsurprisingly, two of his children have dropped out of
school. One had to quit school when he was in the second class of
senior high school and another had to give up studying in the
fifth grade."I could not afford to keep them in school," he said.
Linyang is one of the 242,194 rubber farmers that make up
approximately 50.32 percent of the total workforce in West
Kalimantan. Linyang and his colleagues, hundreds of thousands of
other farmers, cultivate natural rubber (in contrast to the high-
yielding rubber hybrid grown and developed by companies) and have
lived in poverty for ages.
They are constantly strapped by debt, and sometimes debts
remain unpaid until their death. They have no independence and
their welfare is never an issue.
Most farmers seem unable to free themselves from prolonged
hardship and have sunk even deeper into poverty. Despite hard
work, they are unable to catch up with the ever-increasing price
of daily necessities.
First came rises caused by the currency crisis in 1997, then
Jakarta scrapped subsidies, hurtling the price of all basic
commodities upward. In contrast, they see neither the price of
their produce nor standard of living raised.
At the lowest level, farmers can only sell their rubber at Rp
1,800 - Rp 2000 per kilogram. They have become dependent on and
vulnerable to price fluctuations or manipulation of the price
for, more often than not, prices can go up and down in a matter
of weeks.
At the local markets in subdistrict towns, however, dried
latex is selling at Rp 2,300-Rp 2700 per kilogram. By the time it
reaches the crumb rubber factory, it can fetch Rp 3000 - Rp 3500
per kilogram -- much less than the price of daily necessities.
Most of the difference is pocketed by rapacious traders and
middlemen.
In comparison, a kilogram of rice of poorest quality is Rp
2,500, sugar costs Rp 4,500, cooking oil is Rp 5,000, and a liter
of kerosene is Rp 1,500.
The natural rubber farmers in West Kalimantan are generally
Dayak and Malay tribesmen who cannot do much but leave their fate
to the mercy of the taukes.
The tauke, along with the owners of crumb rubber factories,
draw up the rules of the game and dictate prices.
"Ahe ja ma'an," Bukit or Kanayatn Dayak people say, meaning
"whatever the boss says".
"With the pretext that the barn is full, transport is
expensive, prices are down and a string of other excuses, they
can easily dictate to the farmers" said Sartono, a rubber farmer.
When asked whether rubber traders are toying with prices, Leo
Abam, the head of West Kalimantan Rubber Association, snapped,
"That's not true".
The price, according to him, depends on the market mechanism
and quality. Leo admitted that there are many brokers who have
direct access to factories and there is no standard price set by
factories, owing to the nature of contracts made with overseas
buyers.
He further said that every factory has an appraiser to check
on rubber quality. The appraiser normally has 15 years of
experience working in a rubber factory. However, his appraisal is
not always objective nor accurate, compared with that of a lab
test. Adding to the farmers' predicament is the imposition of Rp
60 VAT on their product, pushing the price down at the farmer's
level" Leo explained.
That's a double whammy for the farming families. West
Kalimantan Apkindo (Association of Indonesian Wood Panel
Producers) is trying to have the tax removed.
Yopi, a member of staff at crumb rubber company PT Dieng
commented, "the quality of rubber in West Kalimantan is poor and
it is quality that really matters in determining the price, both
in the local and international markets".
He then added "the long chain and procedures in the rubber
business also affect prices and we never buy it direct from
farmers".
Yopi revealed that the rubber price has plummeted to a 30 year
all-time low. He further explained "The rubber business involves
a high risk as factories draw up contracts with overseas buyers
on a quarterly basis, thus making the price fluctuate."
Head of West Kalimantan Rubber Plantation Unit, Andi Patiroy
said that West Kalimantan has a rubber plantation area of 462,156
hectares, with an annual production of 213.691 tons. In 1996
total rubber exports from West Kalimantan reached US$173 million,
representing the second most important contributor of revenue to
the area after timber at $506 million.
Annually, Leo Abam said, 6 factories in West Kalimantan churn
out about 100,000 tons of rubber (only eight percent of the gross
national product) and the prospect of rubber is promising, as the
quantity of timber is dwindling.
Threatened
Since international demand for palm oil is steadily
increasing, the West Kalimantan administration has adopted a
policy to appropriate an area of 3,200 hectares for oil palm
plantations. Palm oil has become a reliable commodity to boost
regional revenues.
As a result, the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations has
drastically set rubber farmers aside, leaving them with a
shrinking area for their rubber plantations. The presence of the
oil palms is slowly killing rubber farmers, as they are now
unable to expand their areas.
Natural rubber prospers here. "To the locals, rubber
plantation are just like a supermarket -- the vast area can be
interspersed with other potential plants such as durian, coffee,
or jack fruit, appropriate to the soil types. And in between they
can plant mushrooms, ferns and bamboo shoots. This cannot be done
in monoculture plantations like oil palm" said Oktavianus Kamusi,
head of the Supporting Agency for the Empowerment of Farmers.
For the last three years, this institution has been giving
assistance or helping farmers establish and manage rubber
cooperatives.
By the year of 2020, it is estimated that there will be a
shortage of rubber supplies of around 800,000 tons of half-ready,
or about 1000,000 tons of raw rubber. Farmers may be able to see
that rubber prices will soar. Indonesian rubber will account for
35 percent of the world's total production, and it is hoped that
the hike will help farmers live a prosperous life.
Historically, rubber has played a key role in raising the
living standard of the locals. Some have even managed to send
their children to universities outside the island.