Go urban or stay rural: determinants of young farmers staying in or leaving agricultural field (a case study in Cisondari, West Java, Indonesia)

Abstract

Although agriculture workforce plays an important role in agricultural development, aging workforce in agriculture is often put in the periphery. The interest of youth in agriculture is declining due to the diminishing popularity of agricultural field compared to non-agriculture sector in term of future personal welfare security. However, Cisondari, a village in Bandung Regency showed an anomaly. Organic farming in that area is proliferating and growing and is motored by the youths. This study aims to identify the determinants of young farmers for choosing to stay in the rural area and develop their agriculture, despite its adjacent location to Bandung city and amid high rate of urbanization; and how their role contributed to the development of organic farming in the area. The study applies sequential exploratory mixed methods, which relies heavily on qualitative approach which is then complemented by quantitative approach. Data were collected through in-depth interview to key informants, participant observation, field observation, document and artefact analysis; while quantitative data were collected through structured interviews to selected respondents. The results showed that farmers characteristics, innovativeness, and environment became the most dominant factors in determining their motives to stay in rural areas.