Land Conversion and Changes in the Strategy of Rural Community's Livelihood

Abstract

Cases of land conversion in the Sub-district of Mulyaharja are caused by the people's decision to sell their land. The decision to sell the land is triggered by several factors. These factors include low levels of education, low income, ownership of small land, life necessities, lifestyle, corporate mediators' strategies, company's investment. The decision to sell the land turns out to have a major impact on the economic and social aspects of the community. In the social aspects, there is a change in the social relations between the land owner and farm workers from the fifty-fifty system of cultivation to a rental system. Economically, the status of farmers' livelihoods has changed and new strategies of livelihood have emerged. In agriculture, prior to land conversion, most people were land owners. In contrast, after conversion they mostly become land workers or cultivators. In addition, there are a variety of community's strategies of livelihood.