The Sustainability of Indonesia's Upland Conservation Projects

Abstract

The Upland Agricultural and Conservation Project in Central and East Java is representative of Indonesia's upland conservation efforts. An important component of the project was the use of subsidies to promote activities which increased farmer incomes and soil conservation. Two types of subsidies were used: an operating subsidy for annual inputs such as seed, fertiliser and pesticides; and a capital subsidy for terracing and related construction. This study measures the extent to which the effects of the subsidies were sustained over varying periods following termination of the project. The results show that the effects of the operating subsidies are clearly not sustainable; the effects of the capital subsidies may persist longer, but they too are probably not sustainable.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul C. Huszar

Support for this research was provided through a US Agency for International Development (USAID) contract with Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI). We are indebted to USAID and to Dr Bruce Harker, Mr Richard Gnagey, and Dr Joel Levine at DAI for their assistance in accessing and interpreting the data used. We also wish to thank an anonymous referee for helpful comments on an earlier draft. However, the views expressed in this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors.