Agroforestry here can be regarded as an alternative to enhance production while keeping the ecological and biological balance, following the failure of the “green revolution”. This book attempts to systematically and intensively study agroforestry, especially talun-huma, a combination of slash-and-burn agriculture and productive fallow in a village in Cianjur district, West Java, Indonesia, mainly from the socioeconomic perspective. Its methodology takes the holistic approach and is farmer-centered. The research started in 1998, just a few months after President Soeharto stepped down, ushering in the era of reform and democratization, and lasted until 2007. Agroforestry and rural economy faced with crises such as Asian Monetary Crisis in 1997, agrarian conflicts following Soeharto’s exit, and the decrease in land fertility because of the sharp increase in a particular crop—in this case, banana leaf—in traditional agroforestry. Analysis of the sustainability and crisis in agroforestry are demonstrated both quantitatively and qualitatively, as well as institutionally, in this book. This book demonstrates that the agroforestry—or the economy of an agroforestry village—sustained the economy between 1998 and 2007, helping keep it from going into a standstill when the Indonesian economy was in a slump. It also analyzes the impact of institutional changes, such as liberalization of rice import/export and cooperatives, as well as the reform of the village administration on the socioeconomy, especially agroforestry, in the village. It also examines the agrarian conflicts at the research site, especially the looting of teak in the national forest, as well as micro credit, gender relations, and public works, which are all central to a study of agroforestry’s development. The flexibility of the talun-huma and related agroforestry that can accommodate a great variety of plants, and the fertile soil resulting from a multilayered and often dense canopy of vegetation that protects against soil erosion and leaching have enabled people to plant large numbers of banana-leaf, which considerably boosted the villagers’ earnings. The sharp increase in banana-leaf production since the end of 1990s, however, resulted in the decline of soil fertility—analyzed in this book, which also proposes solutions.

Most of Indonesian population live in rural areas, and the majority of poor people also live in rural areas, namely 13.47% in rural and 7.26 in urban. In the past decades, rural communities as well as the ecology have changed fundamentally. Many factors contribute to this transformation: development programs from the government as well as from private and NGOs; the diffusion of information technology; the development of transportation facilities; the rise of education and health levels, interaction with "outsiders", and so on. A main driving factor for rural development has been agrarian liberalization. This can be seen in the development of transnational plantations, which trigger land grab and rise of land demand. Development trough liberalization also had a negative impact, since the development of modern and industrialized agriculture affected the environment, and the expansion of plantations caused changes in the agricultural systems of villages and the life orientation of local communities. Interventions in villages by private companies, intermediary institutions no doubt have brought a structural transformations in rural live: local institutions, livelihood systems, population structures, ecosystems, and relation to the land. Unfortunately, the social, economic, cultural, and ecological transformation of the rural community not always produces improvement of quality of life for the rural community. At the same time, information and data related to rural transformations are scarcely available at research institutions, universities, NGOs, private enterprises. Rural Socio-Economic Transformation: Agrarian, Ecology, Communication and Community, Development Perspectives discusses many aspects of the social, economic, cultural, and ecological transformation of rural life in Indonesia, and is of interest to academics and policy makers interested or involved in these areas.

Increasing urbanisation and industrial development are occurring at the expense of shrinking forest cover and agricultural land in South Asia. Various land uses compete with each other, reducing forests and farmlands. This book addresses urbanisation and peri-urban land markets, with a special focus on Bangalore, one of the fastest growing cities in South Asia. It contributes to historic perspectives on the spatial transformation of peri-urban locales, as well as providing much-needed empirical evidence. The book discusses issues related to the context of peri-urban land use, land transactions, demand supply relationships and land prices in the peri-urban land market. The steep rise in land prices of the periphery, rapid changes in land use patterns, active land transactions, growth of the real estate market and the challenge to implement efficient land use regulations are explored with the help of field evidence. Insights and challenges to land administration addressed in this book are common to other metropolitan cities, and the key message is that a separate peri-urban land policy is required for the major metropolitan cities of India and other developing countries. The book contributes to the understanding of how these spatial markets function in order to work towards an improved implementation of land policy in the context of dynamic rural-urban periphery. As such, it will appeal to researchers, scholars and students of regional, urban and agricultural economics, economic geography, urban and regional planning and environmental science. It will also be of great interest to city planners and policy makers, action-based think tanks focused on urban governance.

A comprehensive tour d'horizon of the debate on the environment and security, focusing on the various policy options for building peace and preventing environmental conflict. Experts from the areas survey the key environmental challenges in Eastern and Central European states and those of the former Soviet Union, extending the debate to such regions as the Balkans, the Black Sea and Central Europe. This is the first time such extensive case study research has been reported for these regions. Both practical and theoretical approaches to the debate are presented, within a multi-disciplinary framework, the contributors ranging from academic experts involved with peace and conflict research to actual policy makers active in the fields of environmental and security policy. Readership: Experts already working in the relevant disciplines, both academic and governmental, as well as those seeking an introduction to the various policy fields. A graduate-level study text, excellent survey for policy makers and an academic contribution to ongoing studies.