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A “weird weather” just struck us! Is It Climate Change?

Karno B. Batiran

They, Kompang villagers[1], never really attribute what have happened to their cloves, cocoas, coffees, durians, rambutans, langsat and other fruits’ harvest with climate change. This year (2011 harvesting season) they could only harvest nothing at all[2].

On normal productive time, they could get 250 kg’s cloves from their 100 clove plants and 800 kg’s from their 100 cocoa plants per year or around 12 million rupiahs[3] from clove and around 7 million rupiahs from cocoa every year in average. But it has turned to nothing. Turned to zero!

“Go to the yard or plantation around here or all over village, if you could find a single bunch of clove, I will buy it five thousands rupiahs” that was how Asikin (M, ± 55) challenged me when I asked his clove harvest. “What happen actually?” I asked more. “It’s unusual and strange” was how he described in one clause. “It has never happened before, there was no dry season this year[4], all year long has been rainy”. He explained more.

Normally, dry season take time during July or August to October, that’s the time for clove plants for fruiting after blooming on some previous months, then September starting for harvest and the peak harvest time on November. “It’s rare and abnormal; we never experienced it before” He concluded.

Not only Asikin, who has been suffered of the harvest failure, can be outspokenly said all the farmers at Kompang and surround have been suffered. Syamsuddin (M, ± 50), Sultan (M, ± 55), Ansar (M, ± 45), Baharuddin (M, ± 60) are some of them, to say some of our interviewees who told the same story.[5]

For Asikin who has more clove plants (around more than 300 clove plants) he even losses more. Last year, on 2010 harvesting season, he could get around 5.000 liters[6] equal 1.666 kg’s. With price 150.000 rupiahs per kg, he lost out around 250.000.000 rupiahs. Really huge lost!

“It also happens to coffee and fruits like durian, langsat and rambutan” said Syamsuddin in a different conversation with me. “Usually, we can serve you with coffee from our own garden along with the langsat or rambutan or durian fruit, but now you drink and eat the bought cookie and bought coffee” His wife, who just showed up from the kitchen with a set of tray on hands with a couple of coffee cups and a plate of cookies on it, added and convinced me. Coffee and fruits have been one of the additional income sources of Kompang villagers.

This year, villagers could only get around ten to twenty five liters coffee beans, instead of 3.000 – 4.000 liters from a thousand coffee plants. “Even not enough for ourselves to consume, no surplus to sell” his wife convinced me one more time with a bitter smile. To confirm once again what has been the main cause of such harvest failure, I advanced to my next question, “why it is so?”, “it’s due to “bizarre weather” he replied. “This year, rain has been coming earlier and last all the time, almost never been dry”, He followed then with different-but-same description with Asikin.

***

“So what do villagers do to deal with the losses, then?”, I asked Pak Ansar, head of Kompang village, on one separate occasion. “Try to find side job, now some more than, may be, 80 % households in Kompang have their member going out of village to work”, He predicted.

“What kind of work?”, I followed my initial query. “Mainly construction labor and carpenter, there are some young women works as household maid, some in town of Sinjai, some to City of Makassar, some out of province or island like Kalimantan, Sulawesi Tenggara, Sulawesi Tengah, or even to Malaysia”. He explained the details.

Pak Syamsuddin and I were in the middle of our conversation when I realized that his two boys (one is around eighteen years- old, just finished high school, and the other one is around fifteen years old, finished junior high school and not attending senior high school) never popped up. I was Asking Pak Syamsuddin, where were his two boys (who usually joined us anytime I visited their house some other times ago). Pak Syamsuddin told me that they have been in Wonomulyo[7], working as construction labor, since August this year.

From the household survey done by the PfR research team, at Bonto (a sub-population), one of the hamlets at Kompang village, found out that some almost 50 % samples have their household member going out of village to work, generally as construction labor and mainly the younger (school-age) member of the household. It can be higher if we look at village level.

***

The harvest failure has struck all farmers at desa Kompang. From the household survey done by PfR research team hundred percent farmers identified that clove harvest failure shocked their household’s economics during last 12 months.

It might be related to climate change, they never said that, they could only say it is “weird weather”. It is not they are dramatizing nor having any interest to follow the trend linking anything worse happening with the climate change.

What they know is they have to send their 16-year-old – 30 years-old boys or girls to some other places to work; so they are still be able to keep their fire flaming on their kitchen. [KBB]

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[1] Kompang village is one of the PfR research site in Sinjai Tengah Sub-district, Sinjai District, Sulawesi Selatan region.

[2] Clove was domesticated in Kompang started on late 70’s some approximately 754 Ha land planted with cloves and cocoa. Previously they used the land for maize for that time maize was their staple food. While the cocoa started on early 80’s.

[3] With average price 25.000 rupiahs per kg, now the price even much higher 150.000 rupiahs to 250.000 rupiahs, the increasing price related to the lack of supplies. With average cocoa bean price around 8.000 rupiahs per kg.

[4] The interview was done on December 2011; “this year” refer to the year of 2011, “last year” refer to the year of 2010.

[5] Farmer has been the main livelihood of the Kompang villagers. From around five hundreds household, all of them have clove and cocoa plantation; but as small holder farmer, vary from 0.5 to 1 Ha per household.

[6] Liter is a common measure unit for weight at village instead of Kg. they commonly sell their harvest on liter unit not kg. 1 kg dried clove equal 6 liter just-picked clove.

[7] A town in Polewali Mandar district, Sulawesi Barat Province, with some approximately 400 Km’s away from Kompang village, to the north-west.