http://psekp.ugm.ac.id/web/public_html

Alex Smajgl, Geoff Carlin, Erin Bohensky, Alan House, Ahmad Syakir Kurnia, James Butler,Catur Sugiyanto, Malcolm Hodgen, Septaliana Dewi Prananingtyas, Roby Fadillah, Azis Khan, Anang Budi Gunawan, Setya Rusdianto, Erik Armundito, Selenia Palupiningtyas Introduction

Macro-policy decisions aim to achieve targets that are often measured at a highly aggregated scale, such as GDP and inflation. Such indicators, however, aggregate what emerges from many micro-level processes. Indonesia’s macro policy aims for high levels of economic growth to achieve poverty alleviation targets. Relevant grassroots-level processes include, for instance, household livelihood strategies. A livelihood is defined “as the assets, activities, and the access that determine the living gained by the individual or household (Ellis 2000). Some macro policy interventions increase the pressure on natural resources, a pressure that can have an adverse effect on households that depend on these resources. The ultimate result could be increasing poverty levels. This paper aims to analyse the impact of energy-related macro-policy decisions (see Section 3.3 for a complete list of policy interventions) on poverty and use levels of natural resources simulating household level processes. As core indicators, this analysis employs ‘number of households below the poverty line’ and ‘fish catch’. Impacts are analysed in an agent-based simulation model for three districts of Central Java, namely Demak, Jepara and Pati. In this province the poverty line is defined as IDR 47,862 per week and person (BPS 2009). The development of the underlying agent-based model is embedded in a larger research project. This project reflects the relevance of multi-scale governance in a blend of methodologies that were selected and designed in participation with the Indonesian government. The process included decision makers at the level of central government, provincial government and district governments.

Download Full Paper