Considering local socio-cultural norms and the broader systems that shaping people’s responses to rural development initiatives: Lessons learnt from a study of cattle farming in Dompu Regency, Nusa Tenggara Barat Province, Eastern Indonesia

Abstraksi

Locally appropriate development is argued to be a necessary requirement to achieve meaningful development in Indonesia. This forum identified informal institutions including social-cultural norms as challenges to the acceleration of local regional development. This paper however takes a counter view and argues that development interventions that do not take account of socio-cultural norms are a barrier to local regional development. Sociocultural norms shape rural people’s practices and responses to development interventions. Cattle is the target of a Provincial and District Government flag ship programme in Dompu, Nusa Tenggara Barat Province. Small holder farmer’s management of cattle was investigated in two different communities in Dompu in this research. Farmers valued cattle as a saving strategy and this shaped their management of cattle but also when they sold cattle. Cattle were sold when farmers needed money. This norm is reinforced by the market which does not differentiate price on the basis of demand or weight of animal. Gender norms also influenced women’s access to development initiatives around cattle. Farmer groups are the primary mechanism used by development interventions to engage with farmers. However, in the research communities it was not usual for women to be members of the livestock farmer groups, and hence, women were excluded from directly accessing benefits provided through the groups. This research suggests that rural development strategies at the local level should be designed innovatively to take account of socio-cultural norms and the broader system, rather than expecting people to follow the strategies designed by interventions.