Food self-sufficiency and land use in the Kerinci uplands of Sumatra: Implications for conservation farmin

Limited access to food self-sufficiency has been hypothesized to reduce the ability of poor, upland producers to use soil conservation measures. The "political economy of soil erosion" theory suggests that pursuit of subsistence overrides the ability of poor, food-insecure producers to invest in costly soil conservation methods; government should therefore provide the "landesque capital" to overcome the private costs and disincentives of soil conservation. Based on one year of field and archival research, this research examined empirically the relationships among food self-sufficiency, land use, and soil conservation practices in two villages in Kerinci--a highland area located in central Sumatra, Indonesia. Food self-sufficiency provided a link for viewing conflicts between state agricultural policies and the upland land use practices of local people.;Approximately half the households surveyed in Sungai Ning produced none of the rice they consumed, whereas in the second village, Koto Lebuh Tinggi, almost 90 percent of households produced some or all of their rice needs. All households in both villages had access to upland farms. Rice self-sufficiency helped to explain why households without access to lowland ricefields predominantly cultivated annual crops in upland fields. However, upland land use (including soil conservation practices) could not be predicted based on household rice self-sufficiency criteria alone. For example, rotational cinnamon-agroforestry systems were widespread in Koto Lebuh Tinggi across all rice self-sufficiency strata. Commercial annual cropping and multistoried fruit-based agroforestry prevailed in Sungai Ning. Also, despite underwriting of "landesque capital", government efforts to encourage construction and use of bench terraces failed in both villages and across all three rice self-sufficiency strata. Additional reasons underlying land use differences are found within the context of local agroecologies and historically contingent opportunities.;The national soil conservation program is hindered by historical and current state visions of upland "sustainable development" based on high input-dependent cropping systems protected by bench terraces. There is a need to reorient the program to a conservation farming approach which builds upon existing household livelihood strategies and land use practices, such as grass bunds and agroforestry systems.