Poverty in Indonesia

The Indonesian Government has formulated reasonable poverty frameworks to work toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But the latest progress report discloses that 16.6% of the population lived below the national poverty line in 2007, more than in 1990, the MDG baseline year. Another indicator which is rising rather than falling is the 8.8% of children under age 5 assessed to be severely underweight. In this context the impact of rising food prices is bound to be worrying, given that almost 35% of the population have incomes which place them only marginally above the poverty line and therefore vulnerable to adverse change.

Jakarta Shanty , Indonesia. © Adrian Arbib

More positive progress features in education for which the government is committed to allocating an increasing share of the national budget, currently 17%. Net enrolment in primary education has reached 95% with no significant bias against access for girls. However, nationally aggregated statistics for any of the MDGs fail to capture the degree of underdevelopment among "pockets of poor". For example, whilst only 4.6% of people living in Jakarta fall below the poverty line, the comparable figure in Papua is 40.8%. Although the Goal to reduce extreme poverty (inability to buy sufficient food) to 10.0% has already been achieved at national level, this is largely due to development gains in a few wealthier regions.

Health in Indonesia

Indonesia's mixed progress towards health-related MDGs raises similar ambiguities. Whilst child and infant mortality rates have fallen rapidly in line with targets, maternal mortality remains at over 300 per 100,000 births, unusually high for this region, reflecting skills shortage and high costs of access to adequate facilities. Although only 52% of Indonesians have regular access to clean drinking water, this is deemed to be on target despite concerns about poor quality and maintenance standards.

The fight against communicable diseases faces serious challenges. Approximately 18 million malaria cases are reported annually, and Indonesia has the world's third highest incidence of tuberculosis. National prevalence of HIV/AIDS is currently low (0.1%) but, in Papua and West Papua provinces, the virus has spread beyond the highest risk groups and prevalence is 2.5%. A study commissioned by the United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids in March 2008 sounded the alarm about an impending HIV/AIDS disaster in Asia with Indonesia having the fastest rise in infections and poor awareness of the risks. The cost of health care and the crude facilities deter many from seeking early medical intervention or testing.
Climate Change in Indonesia

Log barge, Indonesia, FO-5709 © Patrick Durst / Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Indonesia is uniquely boxed in by climate change. Its high rate of deforestation has catapulted the country into the top five contributors to carbon emissions. At the same time Indonesia faces very significant potential impacts, potentially undermining the MDG programme. A World Bank sponsored report envisages "serious food security and health threats while endangering the habitats and livelihoods of coastal communities". As the wet and dry seasons become more extreme in their character, there are concerns that rice varieties that typically crop twice a year will no longer do so and that water availability for irrigation and household use will be disrupted.

Indonesia is no stranger to extreme weather events, typically brought about by the phenomenon known as El Nino. The rising temperatures of climate change appear not only to be modifying the frequency of El Nino to once every 3 years instead of 4, but also to increasing the intensity of its tempests and floods. A string of disasters over recent years have revealed the tragic vulnerability of communities throughout Indonesia to natural phenomena. Damage to human life and infrastructure is rising.

There is very limited room for manoevre in countering the impact of climate change in Indonesia. There is reference to use of appropriate seed varieties, to planting mangrove forests to protect coastal populations, and to strengthening the infrastructure of water and sanitation. In international negotiations for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, Indonesia is advocating that the Clean Development Mechanism should be amended so that a halt to deforestation would be rewarded by carbon credit payments from rich countries. Carbon trading markets are already being used to help villages in Indonesia preserve trees. For example, the expected revenue of about $26 million from the sale of carbon credits will go to villages that stop logging the 1.9 million-acre Ulu Masen forest in Indonesia's Aceh province.

The plight of Indonesia's forests exemplifies the predicament between economic imperatives and environmental destruction; logging claims more than 1.6 million hectares of forest each year, believed to be the fastest rate of deforestation in the world and possibly 80% illegal. National laws are in place but are impeded by local politics and corruption. The current craze for biofuels as an antidote to climate change is also pressuring forests and creating land disputes with indigenous groups whose livelihoods are linked to the forest. Indonesia is already the world's second largest producer of palm oil and plans to increase planting by 50% by 2010.

Aceh after the tsunami © AID|WATCH / Independent Media Center

Although not connected to climate change, the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northern region of Aceh in December 2004 killed up to 200,000 people lost their lives - the majority of them women - hundreds of thousands were injured, and many more lost their homes and livelihoods. The force of the tidal wave permanently altered the coastline and the infusion of seawater, sometimes more than 20km inland, caused heavily salination of productive land. Although the government body tasked with reconstruction is due to end its mandate in 2009 having already rebuilt over 100,000 homes and invested $4.6 billion, the economic, social, political and psychological impacts of the disaster will last for generations.
The Economy in Indonesia

Fishmarket in Indonesia © C R Shepherd courtesy TRAFFIC / Environment News Service (ENS)

Following the collapse of the economy in 1997, international creditors instituted massive "rescue" packages complete with stringent conditions for structural adjustment, including demands for privatisation and market liberalisation. The official debt burden has been onerous, peaking at 100 per cent of GDP at the end of 2000. Although the government settled its debts with the IMF in mid-2006, Indonesia still has to pay Rp 63.5 trillion (USD 6.9 billion) in interest each year on its foreign debts.

Transparency International's latest index places Indonesia amongst the world's most corrupt nations. The economy is constrained accordingly as is the capacity of funds secured for development objectives to bring about real and lasting improvements. Concerns about security - particularly following a series of bombings targeting Westerners and Western interests in Indonesia - have dampened foreign investment and undermined important tourism-related income.

The disparity between rich and poor is among the world's highest. And while there is an emergent middle-class in larger cities, the ranks of urban poor and subsistence farmers are massive. These vulnerable groups have been hit hard by the rising prices of basic commodities in 2007/8, as well as a government policy banning the use of kerosene for cooking in preference for "cleaner" but more costly LPG.



The OneWorld Georgia Guide was first published in this format in November 2004 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Jane McGrory

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