DREAMING FOR THOUSANDS OF GROWING CORNS...
A Sketch of Social & Ecological Changes in Dry Island of Sumba

Lambanapu, a small villages outskirt of Waingapu town, Sumba Island, in the eastern side of Nusa Tenggara (worldwide knows as 'Lesser Sunda') islands. The great waterway of Kambaniru is flowing there along the year, never dried up even in the long dry season. The green landscape along the river bank: grasses and bushes, fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, and wet paddy fields irrigated by a modern structure of canals from Kambaniru Dam, just few kilometers to the upstream. Really a perfect contrast with the range of bold and reddish-brown hills in the backdrop (see the picture).

June 2004.

The first time I came to Lambanapu, I felt not being in one spot of Sumba, a small dry island with endless savannah and rocky hills. Instead, I felt being in an evergreen countryside of very fertile island of Bali or Jawa. While compared it with other villages of Sumba that I have visited before, an immediate conclusion came into my mind: Lambanapu should be one, or perhaps the most, affluent settlement with plentiful of foods in this stoney island .

And, then, I realize that my fast conclusion need to be revised. In the almost of the houses there, what always served on their dining tables are foods from outside of Lambanapu, almost even imported from other islands of Indonesia. The villagers, indeed, cultivates rice in their wet fields. The most popular is hybrid species such as IR-65, one of the green revolution's 'miracles' which is able to harvest twice or even --under certain conditions-- three times a year. There are few villagers keeping cultivates local varieties such as 'Mamberamo'. But, why I never found that kind of very aromatic and more delicious rice in their dining tables? Why, in every meals, I must forced myself to digest such kinds of tasteless imported rice with frozen vegetables and even canned beef or fishes?

The answer is complicated enough but, shortly, can be explained as an impact of regional economic crisis that swept almost of the East and Southeast Asian countries in 1997. As one of the worst victims --worsening by domestic political turbulences, social unrests, and consecutive natural disasters-- Indonesia, consequently, experiencing a very serious shortage of rice. An influx of international humanitarian aid, including a huge amount of rice and other foodstuffs, then arrived and freely distributed to various parts of the country. Under the pressure of the International Monetary Fund, the governmet of Indonesia, then, finally agreed to open domestic market, abandon any tariff's barriers, cut subsidies, and multiplies the quantity of imported rice! But, the later is not for free. As a short term and temporary measurement, it was subsidized and sold at half-price to the poor families or victims of economic crisis, social uprisings, and natural disasters. However, these two different type of supplies --granted aid and subsidized item-- have a common in nature: both are 'low-class' type of rice --especially that came from United States which is, actually, an excessive of their surplus production that also using as raw materials of supplement fodders for poultry and cattles. For the rice-eaters like Indonesian, these imported rice is really horrible in taste. But, in time of desperation, there are no much choices. So, they took it and, hard-living people always have their own ways to struggle for survival. Sooner, a kind of 'peculiar exchange mechanism' was happened almost everywhere throughout the country. Corrupted and demoralized middle class --in one and other ways-- disguising themselves as 'poor families entitled to the rations' and, then, sold the rice for additional cash to buy better local rice. The real poor families, especially the rural small farmers, sold their own good and high quality local rice and, then, bought that imported cheap rice. And, my host family in Lambanapu answered my question with their typical subsistent farmer's arithmetics: "We sold our local rice at double price and even higher, so, we can buy a double amount of that cheap rice while we can secure some remain cash for other purposes. It make sense, isn't?".

I have lost my words for further conversation. I have astonished with other fact that the people of Lambanapu have already assumed that corn (Zea mays) and several kind of tubers --their original staple foods-- is no longer as their main dishes. After more than three decades been indoctrinated by the preachers of green revolution (government officials, politicians, agricultural experts and scholars, extension workers, agrochemicals agents), now they are really beliefs that "...eating corn or tubers will degrading their social status into the lower class of society". As well as commonly found in many other local communities in Indonesia today --who are originally not paddy producers and rice-eaters-- one of the most popular phrases in Lambanapu is: "...If not eating rice, we feel not eating yet!".

And, my astonishment went deeper when realized that this kind of 'false consciousness' of Lambanapu people not limited to the matter of their staple food only. It went on further to the most fundamental ones: changing their own 'concept of food' as a whole. I saw a lot of part of their fertile land was abandoned, fully covered by wild grasses and bushes or, at best, poorly cultivated with various cash crops such as cacao, cashew nuts and mangoes (Mangifera indica). Instead of optimalizing their homeyards with daily edible plants, now they buy more and more frozen vegetables from the market of Waingapu town, about 14 kilometers away. And, I have not surprised anymore when they served me with 'instant noodles' --almost every meals-- that they assumed as vegs substitution. In their kitchen, I saw a bulk of empty plastic containers of artificial cooking oils. I never found anymore the self-made cooking oils from abundant coconut trees scattered throughout the village.

Mama Dang, my host mother, an old woman of 60s, told me the story of her childhood and teenager time when "...we not need to buy foods of any kind". She mentioned about plenty of corns and tubers available along the year and how skillful they are in planting, caring, and harvesting various kind of vegs and fruits in their homeyards. She told me about the thick black mud of wet soils along the riverbank of Kambaniru where they built fishponds and set traps for freshwater shrimps. She illustrated that 'prosperous period' with one example: long and hard dry season every year in Sumba have made many villages desperated for food. That is the time the villagers from everywhere came to Lambanapu for bartering. They exchanged some of their cattles or horses with maizes or tubers. "Usually," she explained, "we axchanged five to six big bags of corns, cassavas or sweet potatoes with one adult ox or horse, or two goats or pigs. We always added for them some small packs of onions, pumpkins, chillies, tomatoes or coconuts and other vegs. Now, we buy almost of that stuffs at the market of Waingapu". Why? She clearly answered: "Fewer and fewer people now dont want and dont know well how to cultivated them. There are still some doing it but just enough for their own daily meals. Almost of the people here now making new paddy fields, because of irigation from Kambaniru Dam, but almost of the harvest are to sell for cash..."

***

Now, Mama Dang have spent more of her time with other women in Lambanapu, formed a group to produce the famous hand-waved clothes (tenun ikat) of Sumba. Three or four days a week, they gathered in one's house to process all of meticulous works to accomplish a piece of neat fabric in eight weeks and even more. The price is not so bad, ranging from IDR 400,000 to 1 million (about USD 40 -100) per piece. However, there is no buyers came everyday. Years before, a trader from Bali has regularly came to Lambanapu and brought the fabrics to be sold in his souvenir shop in Denpasar City. He didn't came anymore for not so clear reasons. Meanwhile, more and more people all over the island who made and produced similar fabrics. Since they have same market, the price slowly went down. Some who have frustated, then, produces 'artificial' (synthetics) fabrics in a massive scale. Even some artisans in Jepara, Central Jawa, have producing 'fake' Sumba clothes and dominating the market. Finally, the original Sumba clothes become just an exotic item at more expensive price with more limited market.

Consequently, many Sumba women now have no more time to work with their agricultural lands. Many of present young women even dont know anymore how to work with traditional farming tools. Many of their present schoolgirls even not want to imagine themselves to be a farmer, the producers of their own foods on their own heritaged lands. And, their men is not an exception too. In front of the just few hotels, restaurants, and other public spaces in Waingapu town, we can find a lot of men walking around to sell the Sumba's clothes made by their women's hands. With tiring faces and eyes, sweating --sometimes lost their politeness and patience-- asking or even insisting and forcing the potential buyers (almost visitors and foreign tourists) to pay their products. During four days staying in a simple hotel in Waingapu, I have counted not less than 20 of those peddlers everyday stood up in front of the hotel and asking me and other guests to buy and.... I never seen one of the guests took out and opened their wallets...

***

So far, a serious food shortage have never happened in Lambanapu. This 'oasis' of Sumba have never experienced such a hardship time like many other villages there, especially of the most dried areas of Eastern Sumba which is --together with similar arid land of many other islands of Nusa Tenggara-- already well-known as one of 'the most vurnarable region' with food supplies. But, there is a continuing process of changes in the local food system of Lambanapu which is tend to move towards similar fate in the future. The signs become more clearer: more villagers not skillful anymore to work with their agricultural lands to produce their own foods; more lands have abandoned or converted into monoculture system of cash crops; more of their young generation not want to be a farmer; and more of them choose to simply buy foods from the market rather than produce it by themselves, and soon.

Some of statistical figures strongly confirmed it. The latest report of Human Development Indexes (HDI) shows that, during the period of 1999-2004, household expenditures for food in East Sumba Regency --where Lambanapu is situated-- is 74.5% or almost two-third of the total household expenses at amount of IDR 166,600 (about USD 17) per month (UNDP-BAPPENAS, 2004). So small amount, of course, and the macroeconomics theory tell us that larger portion of household expenditures for food is a basic indicator of poverty since the smaller amount the family can use for saving and other needs for better education and health. The same report shows that malnourished babies in this area is 31.9% in 1999 and increased to 33.6% in 2002. Infant mortality rate in 2002 is 73 per thousand birth while morbidity rate is 48.9%. All of these figures is one of the highest at national level that made East Sumba Regency, in 2002, is among the poorest areas in Indonesia: listed at the rank of 326 of 366 districts and municipalties or... the 37th poorest in the country!

***

October 2004.

I have visited Lambanapu for the second time. With a local friend on the saddle of an old motorcycle, climbed the bold hills in the eastern side of the great Kambaniru, through the thick ashes made by the tires of our odd vehicle, I saw the green valley of Lambanapu left behind. And, in front of us, I saw a totally different scenery: endless color of red and brown rocky hills and narrow valleys under the bright blue sky... the real landscape of Sumba!

The hot sun is vertically on our heads when we stop for a rest under a dried big eucalyptus tree. While enjoying our simple lunch --boiled corns and smoked beef-- I saw blown up ashes made by a group of famous sandelwood horses of Sumba run crossing a small hill, less than a mile from our 'lunch table'. Some small boys riding the horses followed by an adult man who shouting instructions... I remember a poem by Taufik Ismail, one of the leading Indonesian poet writers in 1960-80s, dedicated for Umbu Landu Paranggi, a Sumba origin, a legendary 'guru' of many famous Indonesian poet writers. I recited a paragraph of the poem:

My dream of Sumba
is dreaming of thousand horses
thunderously run down from the far hills...

And, I added a paragraph of my own:

My dream of Sumba
is dreaming of thousand plants of corn
blossomy growing along the year...

(Roem Topatimasang, 'Travel Note' #51).