NUMBER 72 EDP recis Operations Evaluation Department September 1994 Transmigration in Indonesia Indonesia's Transmigration Pro- and production package during use of animal traction; settlers' lack gram, one of the largest resettlement their early settlement years. Most of experience, combined with the programs in the world, has been much applicants for transmigration have inefficiency of supporting services; criticized. Supporters point to the safe been young landless agricultural settlers' preference for off-farm and orderly resettlement of millions of workers and their families, from employment; soil degradation; ero- people, alleviating pressure on land in Java and Bali. The program contin- sion; and difficulties in marketing inner islands and contributing signifi- uestoday. crops. Of the five projects studied, cantly to the development of the outer only the two based on rubber pro- islands. But detractors argue that con- The OED study analyzes five duction (TI and T3) proved eco- siderable resources have been wasted in projects (see boxes). At the time nomically viable. In T4, in a remote settling people who have not been able the Bank completed its loan dis- site on Fast Kalimantan, 6,000 to move beyond subsistence level, with bursements, these projects had families survive only at a subsis- extensive damage to the environment supported the resettlement of tence level, for lack of processing and deracination of tribal people. about 35,000 sponsored families facilities for the coconuts they pro- and 1,200 spontaneous settler duce with project assistance. The Bank has supported the Trans- families. Performance audits migration Program through seven done soon afterwards concluded Living standards projects totaling $560 million. An im- that Transmigration I (TI) had pact evaluation by OED of five com- achieved its settlement goals and The impact evaluations, under- pleted projects assesses their effects on supplied health and education fa- teken in 1993, found that settlers' people and the environment.* cilities and other infrastructure as incomes in Ti, T2, and T3 were planned. The four follow-on above the poverty level, in some Indonesia's population density projects all achieved their resettle- cases significantly so, and higher varies greatly from island to island. ment goals, despite the difficult than expected at project appraisal. Out of 185 million people, more natural conditions of the project Many of the resettlement sites, than 100 million live on Java, which areas. In all villages, schools and particularly in TI, were thriving has excellent soils but only about health centers were built and ad- villages with a broad range of com- 7 percent of the nation's land. equately staffed. The settler popu- mercial, social, and cultural activi- Densely crowded Java has small ag- lation was stable, and settlers con- ties. Fully 83-95 percent of the ricultural holdings, and growing sidered their new life to be better transmigrants in the three projects numbers of landless people are than the one they had left behind, described themselves as very satis- swelling its towns and cities. The fied with their current situation. outer islands have a large portion of Project planners had expected Indonesia's natural resources, less farming (treecrops or annual "Indonesia Transn,irat,n dense population, and higher rural crops) to provide almost all house- Progran: A Review ofFive incomes, on average, than in Java. hold income. But farming in the Bank-supported Projects", Report settlements did not develop as No. 12988, A ptil 1-994. OED re- Between 1903 and 1990, the planned. Cropping intensities ports are available to Iorld Batk Transmigration Program resettled and yields of annual crops were evecutwe directors and staft'from more than 3.6 million people at much lower than expected. Set- tW in ternal docitents unitand government expense in the outer tlers could not develop their land front rqional information ser- islands, where they received houses, fully. Important reasons were v land for farming, and a subsistence shortages of family labor and low only half the settlers felt secure sion, or industrial timber plantation Projects reviewed enough to rely on their own fu- has caused a loss of forest or biodi- ture resources. versity that is significant at the Of the seven Bank-supported national level. But when they are transmigration projects, five Off-farm employment varies- viewed in combination, their ser- supported schemes in the up- from sustainable activities such ous impact can be appreciated. lands of Sumatra and East as small business to unsustainable The legislation in place when these Kalimantan, and two supported ones such as gold prospecting. The projects were prepared and imple- swamp reclamation in coastal most important in value terms are mented made no provisions to Sumatra. The OED study reviews wage labor in estate crops, trading, consider the cumulative impact the following five: and crafts. of development projects on forests. Such a requirement was introduced Transmigration 1 (approved Social infrastructtre in the Spatial Use Management Act 1976); a pilot operation to test of 1992. Indonesia has national strategies for agriculture, social, Settlers ranked access to educa- guidelines for the protection of for- and economic development of tion for their children as the most ests; nevertheless, available maps transmigration sites in southern important benefit of transmigration. are not detailed and accurate Sumatra. Not only were schools more plentiful enough to implement the guide- Transmigration 2 (approved but fees were lower than in Java or lines effectively. New spatial plan- 199trsettlatiout,30 Bali, so parents could afford to keep ning maps are being drawn up by 1979): to resettle about 30,000 families in four sites along the their children in school longer. All provinces individually to be in line Trans-Sumatra highway. children in the project areas attended with the 1992 act. primary school. Of the few children Transmigration 3 (approved in higher education, a higher pro- Land clearig 1982): to resettle 2,000 families in portion than before were girls. the same location as Transmigra- Land clearing failed to achieve lio 1.Home ownership was seen as full and effective compliance with the niext most imnportanit benefit; pro- the guidelines established at project Transmigration 4 (approved vision of heal services was also appraisal. Slopes of more than 1983): to resettle 6,000 families in widely appreciated. 8 percent have been cleared and a remote area of East Kalimantan. trees bulldozed into waterways. Swaps (pprved191):to Status of zvoiuci Measures to prevent erosion along Swampscontours were not undertaken, the resettle 3,200 families on land to Women were contributing substan- opportunity to introduce settlers to be developed in two stages for paddyand t o pr i tially to family income, through family a range of forest products was lost, PaddAndothecrO Proucton. farming, home industries, handcrafts, and no attempt was made to har- trading, and work on agricultural vest the commercial timber left Sources of income estates. On average, their off-farm partly burned in the fields. These incomes were 83 percent of men's. practices were continuing in 1993. The program has been criticized for not generating enough income Equally important was women's Government regulations are gen- from farming, forcing families to community management role. The erally appropriate and adequate but seek off-farm employment. The new communities are viable and there seems to be little capacity to criticism is justified in T2 and T3 at strongly rooted, in part because of enforce them. Alternative ways to present, though as treecrops ma- women's efforts; all villages had provide incentives to the private ture, on-farm income will rise in T3. active women's groups which pro- sector to clear land properly are not vided services, opportunities for being explored. Where rubber was the main crop, savings, and acted as a social safety economic growth had occurred af- net. Women's support for each other Indigenous people ter substantial cash income began to was strong, partly making up for the flow from rubber. Settlers in TI loss of the extended families they Transmigration had a major considered themselves to be eco- had left behind, negative and probably irreversible nomically independent and self- impact on indigenous people, par- reliant. In T2, the more modest Environment ticularly the Kubu Rimba. With the growth was largely related to the extensive forest clearing now un- lack of a strong commercial crop to Deforestation derway in T2 as part of the devel- generate savings. In T3, probably opment of the uncleared areas to oil because income from rubber was Probably no single transmigration palm, the Kubu Rimba have been only beginning to come onstream, site, treecrop area, logging conces- (and are being) displaced. September 1994 Bank processes have been faster with a more effec- Th Bnkmaea ostietive project monitoring system. Fanning and subsistence The Bank made a positive contribution to integrating environ- The treecrop model in T4 has Settlers received plots of land mental concerns into the site selec- not yielded the expected benefits ot 2-5 ha, to be det eloped in two tion planning process. It helped for lack of processing and market- stages, the first with government to develop a reliable information ing facilities. Processing facilities support. the ,econd bN then- base to strengthen site selection were included in the project as de- sel% es. The% recei%ed a support- for the transmigration program signed, but have not been built. ing package of inputs for food- overall, giving Indonesia its first cropcietelopment ant food (or at countrywide resource/land use/ Program management cast a year. Four of the projects development potential maps. combined food and tTeecrop*; During 1979-84, four ministries Sw%amnps I wvas to be dev-eloped The environmental damage asso- and 53 different government or maink for annial crops ciated with these projects was provincial agencies were involved Settlers in rnniigration I caused less by ignorance than by in implementing the program. and 3 receied cleared land for inattention, poor follow-up, and Institutional arrangements were fOOdcrops. and a I hectare plot of lack of accountability during pro- changed from one Bank-supported rubber planted b% the prolect on a ject implementation. Many environ- project to another. In all projects grant basis Tran-smigration 2 set. mental issues were identified at except TI and T3, the decision tiers received cleared land tor project appraisal: the potential for making process was weak and t00dcrop4. with a further 1 9 ha soil erosion, possibility of declining time consuming and interagency plot toJelLelop br treecrops soil fertility, need for protection coordination was poor during against pests and disease, possible implementation. Iransmigration 4 combined adverse effects on wildlife and de- production of subsistence tuod- forestation, impact on indigenous The effectiveness of FELDA crops i%ith hybrid coconuts, to be people, and the need to strengthen in Malaysia and the Mahaweli deN eloped on a cost rec0%ers ba- the borrower's capacity for manag- Authority in Sri Lanka suggests sis. The coconut trees were ing natural resources. But often, the that settlement projects succeed planted. bUt no processing facilitN audits found, the proposed mitiga- better if they are implemented by a %at e suistence crps tory measures were unrealistic or stable and strong autonomous were insufficiently monitored by agency with a clearly identified Swamps I -ettlers ttere to re- the Bank and the government, plan and strategy. Cii aeabout 22 ha for annual crop tpLS drainage inrasti- Agricultural technology Local (district level) authorities ture for irrigation But poor were seldom involved in planning project preparation and soil prob- Transmigration I and 3 suc- or implementing what was, in eMs resulted in much smailer ceeded largely because their devel- many places, a 50 percent increase plots ol land and a diferent mi opment approach was based on in population and infrastructure, of crops being gro%%n1. treecrops. The treecrop package As a consequence, they were ill made an important contribution to prepared to manage integration poverty alleviation; if developed of the new implanted society at Women receive agricultural ex- well, it can also contribute to envi- project completion. tension advice, and credit and ronmental protection. loans to develop small businesses. Findings and lessons Strong, stable, and autonomous Bank agriculturalists and soil institutions with a clear settlement specialists recommended a similar A principal goal for almost all strategy and plan make an impor- approach for T2 and Swamps 1 be- farmers is to secure a guaranteed tant contribution to successful cause the environmental conditions income. Levels of income are less project implementation. at most of the sites were less suited important than security. The necessary building of local to annual crops. Bank managers i The high value treecrop model, capacity cannot take place at overruled these specialists on the with processing facilities, provides the same time as the building of grounds that the transmigration settlers with a guaranteed income the new transmigrant society, as program was a low-cost operation, above the poverty level, and gen- long as resource flows bypass the incompatible with treecrop devel- erates capacity to repay develop- district administration. Local ad- opment. In the end, the technical ment costs. ministration should gradually as- specialists proved correct. And * In settlement projects, proper sume responsibility during project while the foodcrop model was field investigations should be un- implementation, adequately sup- changed, lesson learning could dertaken in advance of settlement, ported and supervised by a central QED Prlis authority through a project manage- sate for the area that has been gration 4, government is continuing ment unit. cleared for the development of to support the establishment of coco- * The Bank's environmental Muara Wahau in Transmigration 4. nut and cocoa trees, and would con- policies and guidelines-intro- sider processing facilities when the duced after these projects were Bank management responds crop is sufficient. Should dfficulties approved-are adequate but their ...Bank management agrees with most persist in coconut establishment the implementation has not been fully of the facts and recommendations of best course Of action is for the govern- effective. Stronger follow-up would the OED report and considers that ment to provide supportfor commu- have helped ensure that they were most of the lessons learned from the nityforestry as well asfor treecrop properly applied. In particular, transmigration projects have been and subsistencefarming for settlers focused monitoring from an early taken into account in its assistance remaining at the site. stage of project implementation strategy for Indonesia. It highlights would have helped to secure the changing economic conditions of As for the protection of the envi- government commitment-and Indonesia that have produced employ- ronment in land clearing andforestry allow remedial action to be taken ment opportunities in industry and activities, management stresses that during implementation, rather services for the rural poor and landless the Bank has been following a consis- than leaving business to be people of Java and Bali, the greater at- tent strategyforforest and land man- resolved after project closure. tention being given to development for agement in Indonesia to achieve sus- the existing populations of provinces tamable management of the produc- Remaining problems outside Java, and the attention being tionforests, protection of watersheds, given to improved natural resource and conservation of biodiversity. The three major outstanding is- and land management issues. It These issues have been analyzed in sues are: stresses the fact that the last project to sector work and the Bank has agreed support transmigration was approved on a broad strategy with government Adequate protection for indigenous in 1985 and that this project com- to give priority to increasing the over- peoples. In 1984 the Kubu Rimba re- prised site planning and mapping all pace of land titling, and assisting quested, and the Governor of Jambi with an emphasis on consolidation government to develop the adminis- province agreed to provide, an area of existing sites. trativefratnework to handle these key close to the Duabelas Hills as a con- policy issues. The Bank has a continu- servation area, but no action has yet The assistance strategy does not ing dialogue with government on been taken. In addition, the Dayak support agricultural development community participation over a broad communities in East Kalimantan involving large scale land clearing, range of activities. have not yet been compensated for and management does not consider lands acquired for the project. OED's suggestion to safeguard the The joint Audit Committee * Take steps to establish an economic quality of land clearing through of the Bank's executive directors livelihood for those sponsored by the community action or incentives discussed the impact evaluation study transmigration projects, particularly to be realistic under current conditions with OED and Bank management. the 6,000 families resettled through in Indonesia. The committee recognized that Transmigration 4. management agreed with the broad * Provide for adequate protection of With regard to the Kubu, the gov- lessonsfrom the study and that most the environment in Bank-supported eminent is postponing thefurther de- of these lessons had been reflected project sites and forestry activities. velopment of the transmigration areas in the Bank's current policies and Measures for this purpose include concerned and has informed the Bank guidelines. It also noted that an effec- appropriate incentives to the private that it will provide a protected forest tive dialogue was in place between sector for land clearing; improving area for the Kubu while they wish to the Bank and Indonesia. Several and accelerating the land titling pro- continue their traditional way of life. committee members agreed that the cess; involving local communities The amount offunding needed for study raised serious questionsfor and perhaps NGOs in better forest the Dayak communities is small and which the Bank had some responsibil- protection and management; having should be provided by government un- ityforfollow up. The committee environmental impact assessments der an existing program. decided not to take a decision on the be regional rather than project- findings of the study since they were specific; and allocating 20,000 ha of With respect to the viability of the specific and needed to be decided on permanent forest lands to compen- settlement established under Transmi- by management. OED Prsis is produced by the Operations Evaluation Department of the World Bank to help disseminate recent evaluation findings to development professionals within and outside the World Bank. The views here are those of the Operations Evaluation staff and should not be attributed to the World Bank or its affiliated organizations. Please address comments and enquiries to the managing editor, Rachel Weaving, G-7137, World Bank, telephone 473-1719. September 1994