Economic Reflection From the Lebaran Celebration

The lively annual celebration of Idul Fitri is back again. Almost all villagers welcome the great days with enthusiasm and joy. The Lebaran celebrations cannot be separated from the homecoming tradition, or "mudik", in most parts of the country.

The phenomenon of people traveling from the cities to their home villages is understandable, because economic development in Indonesia is still concentrated in big cities, especially in Java. As a result, there are massive migration flows from areas that are still economically untapped to cities.

The lure of the big city that promises a variety of facilities and huge economic incentives has become a magnet for workers with a good level of education, skills or expertise. Given this situation, hardly any young workers want to stay in their villages.

It is interesting to note that the traditional mudik still continues and appears to be unaffected by the changing times. The rapid progress in telecommunications has not deterred people from heading home for Idul Fitri. In fact, modern technology now allows for communication not only by telephone but also by email, or even by video streaming. However, the desire to meet in person and see ones relatives face-to-face outweighs the challenges of going home. High transportation costs and heavy traffic congestion are unable to discourage the people from their homecoming romances.

From this phenomenon, we can infer that in migration there is a trade-off between economic considerations and strong socio-cultural aspects. It can be concluded that if there were economic alternatives, migration could become the least-preferred option for many people.

The migration of workers with good educational backgrounds and high skills contributes to the widening development gap, dimming hopes of expediting structural economic transformation in regions and villages.

In fact, even regions blessed with abundant natural resources are abandoned by productive workers. As a result, many potential resources waiting to be developed lie idle and neglected.

The high conversion of agricultural land is caused by a lack of economic incentives in the agricultural business. It is also caused by low productivity amid an absence of modern technology and quality seeds. Post-harvest technology is also limited.

In fact, the village has tremendous potential resources for horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and other marine production. If rural areas could be developed into food and horticulture production centers, then a great variety of food and beverage businesses would become the economic backbone of the regions.

Certainty on demand could become an economic incentive for farmers, as well as certainty on prices, especially during harvest time. Moreover, investment into adequate logistic systems could reduce the risk of fruits and vegetables rotting. The availability of a variety of vegetables and fresh fruit from rural areascould ensure that demand from restaurants and hotels is met by domestic production, reducing dependence on imported supplies.

If cattle farming could flourish, not just could the meat shortage be overcome, but also the reliance on imported milk and leather for the footwear industry could be reduced. Moreover, the commitment to promote downstream industries in palm oil, rubber, cocoa and other agricultural productioncould be materialized.

To support such activities, the government only needs to provide basic infrastructure and facilitate investment in rural areas. Each region will not only have added value, but also be capable of exporting manufactured products of high competitiveness. More jobs could be created, imports reduced, and exports expanded.

The momentum of the homecoming traditional could be used to lessen the development gap between urban and rural areas. This could happen if migrants or urban dwellers that have become successful in major cities became aware of and could exploit a wide range of business prospects in their home towns. It could start with them investing in productive activities in their respective hometowns.

If such efforts could be carried out intensively, this could attract larger investors to invest massively in agriculture and rural areas. In addition, it would also provide awareness that investment in this sector will be much more sustainable than investment in the property sector.

 

This could be realized if the mudik was not only seen as a romantic tradition but instead be regarded an effort to realize the love of the homeland in more concrete ways. One of these would be for people to develop the economic potential of their respective villages. At least it couldstart with a small step by buying local products as a form of support for the economic empowerment of the region. The expectation is that equitable development can promote welfare across the country. Happy homecoming!

 

by Eny Sri Hartati

source Kompas, Monday, July 4, 2016