Post-tsunami Aceh Research Articles

Should I stay or should I go?: Reasons beneficiaries decide to stay or leave aid-provided in-situ housing

Providing in-situ housing after a disaster is thought to prevent issues resulting in housing inoccupancy. In-situ housing, or housing built at the original site, aims to retain beneficiary connection to people, place, and livelihoods, addressing many noted challenges of building at relocated sites. However, beneficiaries have left thousands of aid-provided in-situ houses in post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia. This research conducted and analyzed questionnaires administered to beneficiaries that both stayed and left their provided in-situ housing almost two decades post-tsunami, exploring the reasons for their decisions. Results show that while place- and community-based reasons can be reasons to remain in in-situ housing, these can also cause beneficiaries to leave their housing due to place-based trauma and disrupted social capital due to loss. In addition, economic and personal conditions influence decisions to stay or leave. Economic conditions, including opportunities for education and more formal livelihoods, particularly for those that were younger, were stated as reasons beneficiaries left, whereas older beneficiaries with less education, more intact social capital, and livelihoods tied to the land, such as farming and fishing, tended to remain. These findings reinforce the importance of aligning post-disaster housing strategies with the lived dynamics of the affected individuals, emphasizing the need for solutions that not only address immediate housing concerns but also foster social and economic resilience to enable long-term housing occupancy.

Special Symposium, Collective Vigilantism in Global Comparative Perspective A Wave of Lynching: Morality and Authority in Post-Tsunami Aceh

Lynching is a surprisingly prevalent form of collective violence. We argue that two conditions can cause lynching: a shared morality based on salient collective threats, providing justification, and weak authority, creating opportunity. We examine this argument with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. In Aceh, the province most impacted, the tsunami was a shock to morality (producing a religious revival) and authority (creating a situation of institutional flux). Using World Bank data, we find that Aceh saw an increase of lynchings, while lynchings stayed on average the same in other parts of Indonesia. Within Aceh, the increase was most pronounced where authority was most undermined and where locals had high levels of shared morality. These findings have implications for research on collective violence and the prevention of lynching.

SamuelsAnnemarie. After the tsunami: disaster narratives and the remaking of everyday life in Aceh. xiv, 199 pp., map, illus., bibliogr. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawai‘i Press, 2019. £68.00 (cloth)StrasslerKaren. Demanding images: democracy, mediation, and the image‐event in Indonesia. 368 pp., illus., bibliogr. Durham, N.C.: Duke Univ. Press, 2020, £24.99 (paper)

SamuelsAnnemarie. After the tsunami: disaster narratives and the remaking of everyday life in Aceh. xiv, 199 pp., map, illus., bibliogr. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawai‘i Press, 2019. £68.00 (cloth)StrasslerKaren. Demanding images: democracy, mediation, and the image‐event in Indonesia. 368 pp., illus., bibliogr. Durham, N.C.: Duke Univ. Press, 2020, £24.99 (paper)

Social Changes in the Post-Tsunami Banda Aceh City

Post-Tsunami Aceh has a significant impact on the people of Banda City, especially during and after rehabilitation and reconstruction has caused dependence and various kinds of social problems as a problem that arises so that social change occurs. The social change of the people of Banda Aceh City does not all lead to positive things, but also the changes refer to the negative direction. The social change in question is a change in the social value of the people of Banda Aceh due to assistance (cash for work) given to the community during the rehabilitation and reconstruction so that social changes occur. This study aims to examine and describe why social change occurred in the people of Banda Aceh after the tsunami using a qualitative approach. Data obtained through observation and interviews with various speakers. Determination of informants was done by purposive sampling with consideration of the informants were part of the community of Banda Aceh and people who survived the tsunami disaster. To analyze the research researchers used the theory of social change. The results showed that after the tsunami there had been a social change in the people of Banda Aceh City, there were positive changes, some were negative. Positive changes in the community feel that many help so that they can meet their needs in the short term, while the larger negative impacts, especially regarding social values such as the level of community participation in Banda Aceh in the construction of village development decrease, are evident from the fading of mutual cooperation inherent in community members and weak social responsibility resulting from dependence and individualistic attitudes

Gifts from the Waves? Cultural Identity, the Rise of Performing Arts Communities, and Women's Performance Practice in Post-tsunami Aceh

Gifts from the Waves? Cultural Identity, the Rise of Performing Arts Communities, and Women's Performance Practice in Post-tsunami Aceh

Analysing the spectrum of female education leaders’ agency in Islamic boarding schools in post-conflict Aceh, Indonesia

ABSTRACT Our research responds to a limited understanding of the agency of female leaders in a context of Islamic politics and society, in post-war and post-tsunami Aceh province in Indonesia. Drawing on empirical ethnographic data, we aim to provide a more nuanced perspective on the ‘strategic space for manouevre’ of women’s agency in Islamic boarding schools in Aceh. Our paper focuses on female educational leaders and teachers at female dayah, or Islamic boarding schools [for girls] in Aceh. The study explores the grassroots roles and motivations of female education leaders, and analyses how a range of contextual (political, economic, socio-cultural and religious) factors play a role in their sense of agency and engagement in (re)producing or challenging societal inequalities and tensions. These factors include women’s own experiences of the conflict and post-conflict period, the influences from their direct networks and kinship, and their opportunities to participate in ‘outside’ trainings and public life.

THE POLICY OF ACEH GOVERNMENT IN DEVELOPING THE DAYAH TEACHER’S COMPETENCE AT ACEH – POST TSUNAMI

Abstract. This study aimed to find out how the Government of Aceh's policy in developing the competence of Dayah teachers in post-tsunami Aceh through the Dayah Education Development Board of the Year 2008-2016, how the implementation of Aceh Government's policy in developing the competence of Dayah teachers in post-tsunami Aceh through the Aceh Dayah Education Development Board Year 2008 -2016, how the performance of Aceh Government policy in developing the competence of Dayah teacher in Aceh post Tsunami through Aceh Dayah Education Board Year 2008-2016, and how the support of Dayah leadership in the implementation of development of Dayah Teacher competence in Aceh post Tsunami through Aceh Dayah Education Board Year 2008-2016. The approach of this research is a qualitative approach, with data collection techniques using documentation, observation, and interview techniques. The analysis of this research uses three stages: data reduction, data display, and data verification and conclusion. And check the validity of data with Triangulation technique. The findings of the research indicate that (1) the development policy of Dayah Teacher Competency in the form of training program, apprenticeship, incentive giving, scholarship for Dayah teacher and addition of Arabic teacher, English for dayah. (2) Implementation of the development of Dayah Teacher competence has not been maximized due to the absence of special SOP on the development of competence of Dayah teachers. (3) The Implementation of the Implementation of the Development of Dayah Teacher Competence has not been optimal because of the lack of budget, it does not reflect the overall commitment. Local regulations on the development of Dayah teacher competence do not yet exist. (4) Dayah leaders strongly support the Government's policy. The study recommends the need to ask the Government of Aceh to establish sustainable policies in the development of Dayah teacher competence in Aceh by creating a qanun or special regulations on Dayah education as well as on the competency standards of Dayah teachers and Dayah leaders in Aceh.

Ṣuwar al-ḥaḍānah ba‘da al-ṭalāq fī Aceh al-Wusṭá

The divorce rate occurred in post-tsunami Aceh have increased sharply, especially in Central Aceh district by 2015. This research was conducted in order to figure out the causes of divorce, the patterns of ḥaḍānah (child custody) and the parent’s attention towards their children after the divorce. The selection of Central Aceh as the object of research was because this district has been occupying the highest position of divorce rate when compared to other districts/cities. The results of this study explain that divorce occurs due to love affairs, economic problems, third-party intervention, early marriage, lack of communication, having no trust and different views of life principles. Meanwhile the pattern of ḥaḍānah happened was mostly carried out by their mother, and the rest was taken care of by their father and the third party like their grandparents. The relationship between the cause of divorce and ḥaḍānah is that when divorce is caused by a spouse’s bickering usually has a negative effect on the pattern of ḥaḍānah, if the divorce happened due to disagreement in the life principles or a certain principle it would have a positive impact. This negative impact on certain conditions requires that older children bear the needs of their younger siblings.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v24i1.4189

Rehabilitating coastal agriculture and aquaculture after inundation events: Spatial analysis of livelihood recovery in post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia

This paper presents GIS time-series land-use analysis of satellite images to quantify the recovery of rice cultivation and aquaculture following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in coastal communities in Aceh, Indonesia. We supplement this with qualitative data to illustrate the post-disaster challenges faced by residents, and the extent to which coastal communities have adapted to post-tsunami realities. Our analysis shows that the rehabilitation of rice cultivation and aquaculture in areas inundated by the tsunami has been limited by extensive degradation of land, diversion of labor by tsunami mortality and transition to alternative livelihoods, and re-purposing of rice fields for residential use during the reconstruction phase. This is especially prominent in areas where subsistence activities are not the primary source of livelihood. The Aceh case study shows that social, economic, and environmental factors can be stronger determinants of how coastal livelihoods rebound and change following destructive inundation events than livelihood rehabilitation aid. Additionally, our case study suggests the human impact of coastal hazards can be felt outside the physical extent of inundation.

Disaster budgeting of Banda Aceh’s local government: Trends and analysis of post-tsunami Aceh 2004

This study aimed to analyze Disaster Risk Management (DRM) related funds that budgeted by the government of Banda Aceh. The specific objectives of this study were: i) to assess and analyze the budget allocation related the DRM investment in the government of Banda Aceh, ii) to provide an update on achievements and key trends in DRM investments in government of Banda Aceh, iii) to evaluate the implementation of DRM budget and challenges on mainstreaming with DRM perspectives into policy of local budgeting, and iii) to propose appropriate recommendations for improvement. The study utilized both primary and secondary sources of data to achieve the objective. The method in this study included the following steps: searching/ collecting, checking, compiling, classifying, measuring, accounting and analyzing the existing budget document. The results of the data analysis showed that a large proportion of DRM investments was allocated after 2011. This study recommended some actions to be taken by the government and related stakeholder to increase the quantity and quality of DRM investments.

Embedded wisdom or rooted problems? Aid workers' perspectives on local social and political infrastructure in post-tsunami Aceh.

This paper analyses the role of local social, cultural, and political institutions in post-disaster reconstruction projects. It contends that such institutions are important considerations within community-driven reconstruction initiatives, but are often viewed with ambivalence by external aid organisations. This paper draws upon in-depth qualitative interviews with aid workers involved in the post-tsunami reconstruction in Aceh, Indonesia, to establish: (i) what roles community institutions were suited to play in the reconstruction; (ii) what were the limitations of community institutions when engaging with external aid agencies; (iii) how did external aid agencies engage with local community institutions; and (iv) how did external aid agencies perceive community institutions.

Measuring impact: a cross-sectional multi-stage cluster survey to assess the attainment of durable solutions in post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia.

BackgroundThere exists little agreement on the choice of indicators to be used to assess the impact of humanitarian assistance. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami led to significant mortality and displacement in Aceh Province, Indonesia, as well as a nearly unprecedented humanitarian response. Six years after the disaster we conducted an impact assessment of humanitarian services rendered in Aceh using a comprehensive set of rights-based indicators and sought to determine modifiable predictors of improved outcomes in disaster-affected households.MethodsA sample of 597 returned and non-returned households in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh was selected using a multistage stratified cluster survey design. We employed principle components analysis and the Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons to develop a comprehensive and rights-based approach to humanitarian impact measurement using multivariate regression models.ResultsThe attainment of durable solutions was equivalent in both returned households 100.1 [CI] 97.63-102.5) and households that integrated elsewhere (99.37 [CI] 95.43-103.3, P = 0.781). Standard of living as well as education and health facility satisfaction increased significantly whereas monthly income decreased after the tsunami, from 2585241 IDR ([CI] 2357202–2813279 IDR) to 2038963 ([CI] 1786627–2291298 IDR, P < 0.001). Shelter (P = 0.007) and legal assistance (P < 0.001) were both significantly associated with positive durable solutions outcomes, whereas prolonged displacement duration was significantly associated with poorer outcomes (P < 0.001). Livelihood assistance received after one year was associated with higher odds of increasing or maintaining pre-tsunami income levels (OR = 3.02, P = 0.008), whereas livelihood assistance received within one year was associated with lower odds of attaining pre-tsunami income (OR = 0.52, P = 0.010).ConclusionsWe find that after adjusting for pre-tsunami conditions and tsunami-related damages, the impact of sectoral responses can be assessed. The duration of displacement was the strongest negative predictive factor for the attainment of durable solutions, suggesting that measures to reduce displacement time may be effective in mitigating the long-term effects of disaster on households. The durable solutions framework is a novel and effective impact measurement tool and can be used to identify factors amenable to intervention and inform future disaster recovery efforts.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1168) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Using community led development approaches to address vulnerability after disaster: Caught in a sad romance

A reading of the social capital literature suggests that the networks and the social relationships which enable collective action can be used to address critical livelihood needs, even in disaster contexts. Yet even when such community-led approaches are combined with substantial resources, too often these interventions (re)produce vulnerabilities without recovering prior levels of development. Examining the outcomes of community-led approaches in post-tsunami Aceh after the gaze of the aid industry has moved elsewhere, this paper finds that in a few cases, interventions worked with social networks to revive livelihoods successfully, albeit in complex, contingent ways. Yet, given the nature of post-disaster contexts and the exigencies driving NGO and donors actions, the research concludes that the capacity for community based approaches to address the underlying drivers of vulnerability remains limited. The paper calls for a rewriting of intervention narratives and a reworking of intervention practices, to address the deeper determinants of disadvantage and vulnerability.

The limits of a ‘heritage at risk’ framework: The construction of post-disaster cultural heritage in Banda Aceh, Indonesia

This paper discusses what it means to label heritage as being ‘at risk’ in post-disaster landscapes in the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It questions the relevance of a ‘heritage at risk’ framework, pointing out the issues associated with starting from this popular threat-based model of preservation in the aftermath of near or total destruction. By challenging the hegemony of a ‘heritage at risk’ rhetorical device that constructs heritage typologies, this debate focuses instead on the emergence and mastering of new heritage in post-tsunami Aceh, and the ways in which a shift in focus is able to document and preserve the emergence of unique heritage constructs and priorities. This paper promotes the study of heritage as a performance that transcends an emphasis on victimhood, toward framing a heritage construct that is productive and dynamic, a steward for post-disaster identities.

In the Name of Syariah?: Vigilante Violence, Territoriality, and Moral Authority in Aceh, Indonesia

This essay looks at the views and actions of vigilantes, community leaders, and state agents with regard to the dynamics of public morality and vigilante violence in Aceh. Post-conflict, post-tsunami Aceh is a society in flux, and in recent years concerns about “correct” behavior have been propelled to the forefront of political debate. A central element of this process is the content and enforcement of Islamic law, or syariah , implemented in the region since the early 2000s. Some local activist and paramilitary groups have carried out raids, violent actions, and punishments to “help” the government implement and enforce syariah . Religious and political leaders occasionally support this violence as a proper way of dealing with moral decline, failing authorities, or both. Vigilante violence “in the name of syariah ,” while situated at the margins of social and political activism, is a reality in contemporary Aceh. However, in many cases, syariah is not the central issue. Instead, perpetrators, often local young males, point to the need of protecting the “good name” of their village through upholding local customs or village law. This article deals with broad social and political changes as well as specific cases of morality policing. Rather than view the outbreak of vigilante violence as a matter to be engaged either by the state or by “traditional” leaders, it demonstrates how these spheres of authority interact. Together, the cases discussed in this article show that the concept of, and control over, village territories constitutes a central aspect of the struggle for moral authority and vigilante violence in contemporary Aceh.

‘Aceh thanks the world’: The possibilities of the gift in a post‐disaster society (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

While it has often been argued that post‐disaster aid is humiliating for its beneficiaries, based on my ethnographic research in post‐tsunami Aceh, Indonesia, I argue that such aid may also come to mean the opposite. Rather than feeling humiliated by foreign aid, people in Aceh actively glossed post‐tsunami foreign assistance as ‘gifts’ for which they often expressed their gratitude. Building on Marcel Mauss's classic argument, as well as on more recent works on the nature of the gift, I argue that they did so because they felt that the gift of post‐disaster aid brought with it both a long wished‐for recognition of Aceh and the possibility of establishing long‐term relationships between Aceh and ‘the world’. Therefore, rather than something humiliating, the post‐disaster aid became a medium for imagining what James Ferguson has called a ‘place‐in‐the‐world’ for Aceh.

COMMUNITY LED DEVELOPMENT AND VULNERABILITY IN A POST-DISASTER CONTEXT: CAUGHT IN A SAD ROMANCE

One reading of the social capital literature suggests that the networks and the social relationships which enable collective action can be used to address critical livelihood needs, even in disaster contexts. This paper concerns post-tsunami Aceh, where following the largest disaster in forty years, one of the biggest reconstruction programmes in history implemented livelihoods projects, making use of community led recovery approaches. This paper fi nds that social capital ideas stabilised policy thinking, legitimised project interventions, and provided a template for project action. Examining the eff ects of community led approaches in two sub-districts eight years after the tsunami, it compares the few instances in which particular livelihood projects led to enduring forms of collective action, with the majority of cases, in which these approaches failed to address the underlying drivers of vulnerability. Community led policy narratives often do not match with the logic of social action embedded in local networked space. As interventions based on social capital ideas may have limited purchase in post-disaster contexts of this kind, eff orts to address vulnerability in post-disaster contexts need to address drivers of vulnerability in agrarian livelihoods in a systematic fashion, several moves beyond the narrowly focused community led livelihood interventions of post-disaster recovery.

Impacts of soil and groundwater salinization on tree crop performance in post-tsunami Aceh Barat, Indonesia

Abstract. The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 had far reaching consequences for agriculture in Aceh province, Indonesia, and particularly in Aceh Barat district, 150 km from the seaquake epicentre. In this study, the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of soil and groundwater salinity and their impact on tree crops were monitored in Aceh Barat from 2006 to 2008. On 48 sampling points along ten transects, covering 40 km of coastline, soil and groundwater salinity were measured and related to mortality and yield depression of the locally most important tree crops. Given a yearly rainfall of over 3000 mm, initial groundwater salinity declined rapidly from over 10 to less than 2 mS cm−1 within two years. On the other hand, seasonal dynamics of the groundwater table in combination with intrusion of saline water into the groundwater body led to recurring elevated salinity, sufficient to affect crops. Tree mortality and yield depression in the flooded area varied considerably between tree species. Damage to coconut (65% trees damaged) was related to tsunami run-up height, while rubber (50% trees damaged) was mainly affected by groundwater salinity. Coconut yields (−35% in average) were constrained by groundwater Ca2+ and Mg2+, while rubber yields (−65% on average) were related to groundwater chloride, pH and soil sodium. These findings have implications on planting deep-rooted tree crops as growth will be constrained by ongoing oscillations of the groundwater table and salinity.

Gender at the Crossroad of Conflict: Tsunami and Peace in Post-2005 Aceh

After the devastating tsunami hit the northern Sumatran coastline in December 2004, the Indonesian province of Aceh found itself at a crossroad. This crossroad intersected the three-decade-long civil war, the move towards peace and the need for post-disaster recovery. This article analyses the gendered politics embedded in Aceh's navigation through this crossroad. First, it argues that both the conflict and the subsequent peace process were marginalised by the international programmes of post-tsunami recovery. Second, it demonstrates that within this marginalisation, women's investments in both war and peace were further neglected throughout the formal peace process. Third, it highlights how the peace process reflected a narrow, masculinist and public sphere agenda that silenced both women and the gendered issues affecting them. In short, this article seeks to unveil the gendered politics of war and peace in post-tsunami Aceh. It does so with the feminist ambition of demonstrating that sustainable and comprehensive peace in Aceh cannot be secured without recognising and accounting for the impact that the conflict has upon gendered identities.

Improving aquaculture in post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia: experiences and lessons in better management and farmer organizations

Coastal aquaculture in Aceh was severely affected by the Asian Tsunami in December 2004. Capacity building among stakeholders was one of the key activities implemented by various agencies during the post-tsunami aquaculture rehabilitation and subsequent development phase. The main objective was improving production efficiencies and farmer incomes. This article describes the process of implementation of the approach and crop outcomes until the end of 2009. In 2009, 1135 farmers and their 1296 ponds were ‘organized’ in 27 clusters across 84 villages of three districts to implement better management practices (BMP). Interventions reduced the prevalence of shrimp disease outbreaks significantly in participating ponds (22.45%) compared with non-participating ponds (62.64%). Among the normal harvested ponds, though there was no significant improvement in shrimp yield but costs of shrimp production were significantly reduced by 12.1% and benefit cost ratio was significantly increased by 0.523 points in normal harvested participating ponds compared with normal harvested non-participating ponds. Multivariable logistic regression analysis with 27 independent variables including a set of BMP showed that many factors were significantly associated with the normal harvests, improved yield and profits. The study shows that simple management improvements can reduce risks and improve economic returns.