Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya – Already hard hit by the economic crisis that has been assailing the nation since 1997, more Indonesians are now facing the prospect of being plunged into severe poverty due to drought.

In East Java, farmers in at least five regencies, Pacitan, Magetan, Ngawi, Madiun and Bojonegoro, have to consume what is locally known as tiwul (food processed from cassava according to traditional methods) instead of rice.

Many subdistricts in these regencies have been enduring a prolonged drought that has decimated rice crops. Besides, water volumes in reservoirs and retention areas have also been declining.

Most of the farmland in East Java relies on rainfall or water from reservoirs, which during a dry season such as the present usually dry up.

Information and data gathered by The Jakarta Post shows that people in 15 villages in the mountainous Kendeng area of Ngawi are facing shortages of clean water, although the area is located not far to the north of the Bengawan Solo river.

Villagers there have to go between 200 meters and 300 meters from their homes to get water. Some of them have also begun to eat tiwul.

Similarly, in Pacitan, which is located in the southwestern tip of East Java, at least three of the 12 subdistricts are badly hit by drought, with local residents being forced to eat dried cassava.

Those suffering from severe poverty include villagers in Donorejo subdistrict, which borders on Central Java province. They are also facing a severe shortage of clean water. The same applies in Parang subdistrict, Magetan.

Meanwhile, in Ponorogo, more than 100 families in Pulung subdistrict are now eating tiwul at least twice a day.

Madiun, which stores rice for the western parts of East Java, is facing a similar disaster.

Suprawoto, head of the East Java information and communications office, said the five regencies were always badly hit every dry season.

However, he denied that many people in East Java had been consuming tiwul because they could not afford to buy rice amid the ongoing drought.

"In several regions in the west of East Java, tiwul is known as another staple food. Villagers there consume it not only during the dry season. Usually, they will sell their rice if the price is high enough," said Suprawoto, who was born in Magetan.

He said the provincial administration had yet to receive detailed reports on the drought's impact in East Java.

But to help residents tackle the problem, Suprawoto said the governments in the five drought-hit regencies were providing clean water to remote villages using tankers. "The East Java provincial administration will certainly provide any assistance needed by the affected regions," he claimed.

He said his office would continue to monitor the continuing impact of the drought on local residents. The drought had devastated 7,000 hectares of farmland across the province by the end of last month.

However, drought is not the only reason for people to eat tiwul. In Lampung, for example, declining prices in the local coffee market are the main cause.

Many coffee growers in Lampung and Bengkulu have long been consuming tiwul following a dramatic increase in the price of rice and a fall in coffee prices.