Investigating the participation mode in agro-based GI development programmes in Indonesia: A lesson learnt from three case studies

Abstract

Geographical Indication (GI), a product labelling tool based on a specific geographical origin, has gained traction in many developed countries. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, GI has been put on the radar screen since the 2000s, marked by the establishment of government regulation at the national level, followed by various programmes to assist communities to pursue GI labels for their unique local products. As GI is a community-based intellectual property, the participation of local actors is considered important in GI development to pursue sustainable agroindustry. To this end, this paper addresses the question of to what extent have the GI development programmes in Indonesia pursued the participation of local actors? In doing so, we focus on dissecting three agro-based GI products located in three different areas in Indonesia as case studies. Interviews with some representatives of the Community of GI Protection (MPIG) and the local business community from each case were conducted, supported by the information received from government actors, academics and practitioners. The degree of participation framework that consists of 1) informing, 2) consultation, and 3) empowering is used to analyse the three cases to answer the paper’s question. This paper found that the GI-based agroindustry development in Indonesia still largely focuses on pursuing formal institutions of GI labelling while empowering local actors still received little attention. Further studies are necessary to explore the effect of GI development programmes on local farmers’ situations.