Gold Green: A Survival Strategy of Farmers in Kayumas Village, Situbondo Regency

Abstract

Kayumas Village was a unique village to study. The uniqueness could be traced through an evidence on 19 April 1883 when the Dutch investor HHvan Kol and his colleague JCEgter van Wissekerke were interested in leasing 504 bau of vacant land in Kajoemaas plateau to the Dutch colonial government for 75 years to establish the company "Cultuur Maatschappij Kajoemaas", whereas the location of Kajoemaas region was isolated and difficult to reach. The land was apparently planted with Arabica coffee because of the geographical location of the area was more than 760-1550 meters above sea level, and succeeded in producing Arabica Coffee exported to Europe. When Indonesia gained its independence, the company was nationalized and changed its position by PT. Perkebunan Nusantara XII (PTPN XII) by changing the name to be "Kayumas Arabica Coffee Processing". This Arabica coffee processing factory later inspired the farmers of Kayumas Village to cultivate their lands. This study was dissected using a political economy theory as combined with the historical method. The theory of Political Economy was used to trace the emergence of the critical thinking of Kayumas Village farmers to grow and crop Arabica coffee as the same as the PTPN XII. Meanwhile, the historical method was used to track the strategies used by farmers to survive. This study has resulted and proven that the majority of farmers in Kayumas Village chose to plant Arabica coffee as a strategy to survive along with PTPN XII. It was also proven that the coffee farmers in Kayumas village were more prosperous than farmers in other villages.