Collective action for rice smallholder’s value chain: Insight from Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

The rice value chain in Indonesia is dominated by smallholder farmers, and the recent transformation presents bigger opportunities for them to participate in the chain system through collective action. This study identifies and describes 1) the benefits of collective action and 2) how smallholder rice farmers act collectively within a group and why. This paper presents a case study involving smallholder rice farmers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, who have worked collectively and benefited from the valuechain transformation. Data were sourced from semi-structured interviews involving relevant actors. This interview data is complemented with document studies. The finding shows that collective action helps build competitive advantage by facilitating smallholder farmers to develop their capabilities, improve their bargaining power, and bypass intermediaries. Nevertheless, this only works for smallholder farmers with a production capacity above their household needs. The findings also show that the drivers of collective action are motivation, trust, shared visions, social cohesion, good leadership, active engagement, and external support. This study contributes to knowledge about the interaction between actors within a collective group and how to develop smallholder organizations, particularly for rice commodities.