The Agrarian Origins Of Commerce And Industry: A Study Of Peasant Marketing In Indonesia (studies In The Economies Of East And South-east Asia)

This study challenges the traditional image of peasants in developing economies as always passive to market forces. In this study of marketing upland crops in Indonesia the authors demonstrate active peasant participation and entrepreneurship in commercial and industrial activities. The peasant marketing system not only works as an effective bridge between farm producers and consumers but also produces significant employment and income in the rural sector. The Indonesian case suggests a genuine possibility of rural-based economic development in the third world. Foreword / C. Peter Timmer -- 1. Peasant Economy And Peasant Marketing -- 1.1. Peasant Marketing Or Agricultural Marketing -- 1.2. Peasants And Markets -- 1.3. Agenda Of The Peasant Marketing Study -- 1.4. From Village To Bazaar -- 1.5. Study Periods And Price Levels -- 1.6. Plan Of The Book -- 2. A Prototype In Upland Java -- 2.1. Environment Of Upland Java -- 2.2. Organization Of Marketing -- 2.3. Trade Practices And Conflicts -- 2.4. Prices And Marketing Margins -- 2.5. Structure Of Processing Industries -- 2.6. Income And Employment Generation -- 2.7. Summary -- 3. The Scene Of A Transmigration Area In Sumatra -- 3.1. Environment Of The Transmigration Area -- 3.2. Marketing Organization In The Transmigration Area -- 3.3. Infrastructure And Market Competition -- 3.4. Prices And Marketing Margins -- 3.5. Summary -- 4. Marketing Innovation For Commercialized Production -- 4.1. Environment Of A New Product Innovation -- 4.2. Two Channels Of Vegetable Marketing -- 4.3. The Inter-village Collector In Interregional Trade -- 4.4. Bazaar Vendor In The Local Market -- 4.5. Prices And Marketing Margins -- 4.6. Rural Income Generation -- 4.7. Summary -- 5. From Peasant Marketing To Modern Commerce And Industry -- 5.1. The Organization Of Peasant Marketing -- 5.2. Policies For Market Development -- 5.3. Peasant Entrepreneurs In Modernization: Indonesia And Japan -- Appendix A: Marketing Channels For Rice -- Appendix B: Estimation Of Credit Costs For Vegetable Producers Under Alternative Credit Arrangements. Yujiro Hayami And Toshihiko Kawagoe ; Foreword By C. Peter Timmer. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 186-191) And Indexes. Indonesia has proved a fertile ground for peasant studies and produced paradigms in one epoch or another, such as Boeke's social dualism and Geertz's agricultural involution. This literature has created an image of peasants as always passive to market forces and having little capacity to organize modern commerce and industry. On the contrary the authors of this book demonstrate active participation and entrepreneurship on the part of the peasant population through their research into the marketing of peasants' produce from rural villages to town markets in the upland areas of Indonesia. The peasant marketing system, consisting of a large number of petty traders and processors rooted in rural villages, works efficiently in economizing on the use of scarce capital and management inputs while making intensive use of local inputs, especially labour which has a low opportunity cost. Not only is the marketing system an effective support for farm production but it itself generates significant employment and income in the rural sector. The scene observed there is similar to the role played by peasant entrepreneurs who supported the modern developments of commerce and industry in Meiji Japan. It suggests a genuine possibility of rural-based economic development in the Third World and a model for post-socialist states on how to create and organize markets. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Peasant Economy and Peasant Marketing....Pages 1-22 A Prototype in Upland Java....Pages 23-75 The Scene of a Transmigration Area in Sumatra....Pages 76-110 Marketing Innovation for Commercialized Production....Pages 111-164 From Peasant Marketing to Modern Commerce and Industry....Pages 165-173 Back Matter....Pages 174-202 This study of marketing upland crops in Indonesia demonstrates active peasant participation and entrepreneurship in commercial and industrial activities. The peasant marketing system works as a bridge between farm producers and consumers and produces employment and income in the rural sector.