Hyginus Hardoyo, Boven Digoel, Papua – In Ogenetan, a tiny village located in Iniyandit, one of the more remote districts of Boven Digoel regency in Papua, residents recently donned the

Jayapura – The governor of Papua, fresh off a tour of remote villages, said past development efforts have failed to lift the majority of rural Papuans out of poverty.

Markus Makur, Timika – Papua has the seventh highest rate of illiteracy in Indonesia, with 200,000 people aged 12 to 45 years unable to read.

Tangerang – Dozens of residents of Sukamanah village in Jambi district ran amok Friday, beating up the village secretary and destroying the village administration office after the admin

Eva C.

As drought continues to grip much of Indonesia, it was little surprise to see agricultural policies in the news last week.

Oyos Saroso HN, Lampung province – Many thousands of people from Lampung have been forced to start eating cassava as the drought continues its stranglehold over the impoverished provinc

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla said on Wednesday that the government had distributed 1,800 tons of relief rice to 250,000 farmers in Java, which is suf

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Ainur R.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – The current drought will not create a rice supply problem at home, but could potentially send millions of farmers into poverty, experts said.

Padang – Dozens of farmers from Kapa village in West Sumatra filed a police report on Wednesday, complaining about alleged intimidation against them by security personnel.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A farmers union criticized on Tuesday the water resources bill for allowing private companies to exploit springs, which it said would harm farmers who

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment-Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) has called for protests against major banks around the world with investments in PT London Sumatera Indon

Nana Rukmana, Majalengka – The declining price of cloves has prompted farmers in Talaga and Baturajeg districts to uproot their clove trees, saying they could no longer afford to mainta

Moch. N.

Nana Rukmana, Indramayu, West Java – Over 45,000 hectares of rice plants in the Indramayu and Cirebon regencies, known as the rice belt of West Java, have withered following the early a

Bernie K.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Bullets cracked through the smoke from three blazing vegetable trucks and a flaming bus in the village of Teupin Raya as the battle for Aceh grew more heated yest

Jakarta – Thousands of poor people in Banggai and Banggai Islands in Central Sulawesi are reportedly facing famine, following the sharp decrease in theLuwuk logistics sub-depot's rice s

Yeoh En-lai – Bali's famous beaches and spas are not the only places experiencing a dry spell.

Semarang – Because the price of tobacco has plummeted to only 5,000 rupiah per kilogram in the last period, the economic conditions for tobacco farmers in the central tobacco plantation

Middlemen, smugglers, exorbitant tariffs in foreign countries and a dire need for agricultural reform are all leading Indonesian farmers to take drastic action to protect their liveliho

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Life is hard for thousands of farmers in the northern coastal areas of Tangerang regency.

Bill Guerin – Thousands of Javanese sugarcane farmers staged a massive rally in Jakarta on Tuesday demanding protection from the glut of cheap imported sugar that has threatened their v

Jakarta – Thousands of farmers across the country marked National Farmers' Day on Tuesday with protests demanding comprehensive land reform and protection from the relentless onslaught

Jakarta – Experts welcomed on Friday the government's plan to provide incentives for rice farmers, but said that the government must also curb the smuggling of cheap rice into the count

Ainur R.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Kalianda, South Lampung – Lampung farmers have demanded the court take a decision on the ownership of local communal land, which they say has been illegally taken over

Nana Rukmana, Kuningan, West Java – Frustrated by declining coffee prices, many farmers in West Java are now cutting down their coffee plants and replacing them with vegetables and othe

Ainur R.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Gunungsugih, Central Lampung – Farmers in Lampung are clamoring for a higher base price for unhusked rice to compensate for the soaring price of fertilizer.

Moch. N.

Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto, Mojokerto – Rising at dawn everyday, 60-year-old grandfather Hardjo prays long and hard before he prepares himself for work in the dry, rock-hard

Blontank Poer, Semarang – Calls for compensation are being voiced, nearly two decades after the construction project of a reservoir in the Central Java district of Kedungombo.

Grace Nirang, Jakarta – Indonesia's plans to impose higher tariffs on a string of agricultural commodities might not help farmers as intended but instead raise consumer prices and encou

Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto, East Java – This year's drought has dealt a severe blow to East Java province causing the country's major rice producing area to suffer losses to

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's food-production targets could be hit this year because unscrupulous officials have allegedly been exporting fertiliser and reaping huge profits – at the

Jill Jolliffe, Maubisse – Like most country folk in East Timor, the 18,000 people of the Maubisse district are enthusiastic about independence, but worried about their future.