Rural Youth in Time of Climate Change: A Case of Kajang, Indonesia

Global agriculture is deeply affected by climate change, and more so in rural areas of developing countries, where the local smallholder farmers are already facing pressures from market-induced problems. Although capable of absorbing a large number of youths, small-scale farming is shrinking mainly due to enclosures and price squeezes. Drawing on a case study of five villages in Indonesia that are part of the Kajang Indigenous Communities, we apply an extended sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) to examine the strategies adopted by rural youth in the face of deteriorating small-scale farming. We examine how local institutions and organizations, as well as wider contexts, affect their ability to access resources. In terms of context, we focus especially on how climate change helps to shape youths' participation in small-scale farming and the ensuing outcomes, while also paying attention to. Through qualitative methods, we found an increasing tendency among youths from both landed and landless or near-landless families to aspire to move out of farming. Although the former perceives farming more positively than the latter. The ability to continue accumulating via diversification using superior resources may explain why larger landowner families have a more positive view of farming. With higher income, they can afford the rising costs of basic needs, education, and the expensive life cycle of traditional rituals. Meanwhile, climate change impacts that cause recurring harvest failures play a significant role in driving proletarian youth away from agriculture. By upsetting production, climate change is essentially taking down a crucial defense for smallholder farmers in the longstanding battle against market-induced price squeezes and enclosures. A battle most felt by the landless and near-landless families.