Market Governance and Ecological Sacrifice in Tobacco Farming: Environment–Livelihood Trade-Offs and Hybrid Institutions in The Besuki Raya Region East Java Province, Indonesia

Herman Cahyo Diartho; Agus Luthfi; Rhamanda Try Muktianto; M. Iqbal Fardian

doi:10.20527/jiep.v9i1.2968

Authors

Herman Cahyo Diartho Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Jember, Indonesia
Agus Luthfi Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Jember, Indonesia
Rhamanda Try Muktianto Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Jember, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4721-2919
M. Iqbal Fardian Department of Economics Development, Faculty Economics and Business, University of Nurul Jadid Probolinggo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20527/jiep.v9i1.2968

Keywords:

Ecological Economics, Environment–Livelihood Trade-Offs, Market Power, Hybrid Institutions, Tobacco Farming, Besuki Raya

Abstract

Tobacco farming in Besuki Raya, East Java, demonstrates how environmental degradation in smallholder agrarian systems is shaped by market power, livelihood dependence, and hybrid institutional arrangements. This study examines how economic governance structures influence environmentally consequential production practices and environment–livelihood trade-offs in tobacco farming. The study was conducted in the Besuki Raya region of East Java, Indonesia, covering Jember, Lumajang, Bondowoso, and Banyuwangi as major tobacco-producing districts. A qualitative political–economic ethnographic design was employed. Data were collected between March and November 2025 through 54 in-depth interviews, eight focus group discussions involving 56 participants, 36 field observation visits, document analysis, and limited netnographic observation of six WhatsApp and Facebook farmer communities. Data were analysed using ATLAS.ti 23 through open, axial, and selective thematic coding. The findings show that formal regulations, market mechanisms, cooperatives, and patron–client relations stabilise short-term livelihoods while reproducing environmentally intensive farming. Warehouse-based grading and advance financing encourage chemical input use, accelerated production, and quality compliance because prices and debt repayment are determined after harvest. This study contributes to ecological economics by showing that environmental degradation is embedded in market governance rather than arising from isolated farmer behaviour or technical inefficiency alone.

References

Adger, W. N., Barnett, J., Heath, S., & Jarillo, S. (2022). Climate change affects multiple dimensions of well-being through impacts, information and policy responses. Nature Human Behaviour, 6(11), 1465–1473. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01467-8

Aldrich, Daniel P, & Meyer, Michelle A. (2015). Social Capital and Community Resilience. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(2), 254–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764214550299

Appau, A., Drope, J., Witoelar, F., Chavez, J. J., & Lencucha, R. (2019). Why Do Farmers Grow Tobacco? A Qualitative Exploration of Farmers Perspectives in Indonesia and Philippines. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(13), 2330. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132330

Chazovachii, B., Mawere, C., & Chitongo, L. (2021). Sustainability of Centralized Contract Farming Among Tobacco Smallholder Farmers in Makoni North District, Zimbabwe. Cogent Social Sciences, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2021.1921324

Chingosho, R., Dare, C., & van Walbeek, C. (2021). Tobacco farming and current debt status among smallholder farmers in Manicaland province in Zimbabwe. Tobacco Control, 30(6), 610. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-055825

Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2017). Thematic analysis. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(3), 297–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1262613

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.

Duit, A., Lim, S., & Sommerer, T. (2023). The state and the environment: Environmental policy and performance in 37 countries 1970–2010. Politics & Policy, 51(6), 1046–1068. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12561

Faxon, H. O. (2023). Small Farmers, Big Tech: Agrarian Commerce and Knowledge on Myanmar Facebook. Agriculture and Human Values, 40(3), 897–911. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-023-10446-2

Folke, C., Biggs, R., Norström, A. V, Reyers, B., & Rockström, J. (2016). Social-ecological resilience and biosphere-based sustainability science. Ecology and Society, 21(3). http://www.jstor.org/stable/26269981

Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2(163–194), 105.

Holden, Chris, & Lee, Kelley. (2009). Corporate Power and Social Policy: The Political Economy of the Transnational Tobacco Companies. Global Social Policy, 9(3), 328–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468018109343638

Ison, R. L., Collins, K. B., & Wallis, P. J. (2015). Institutionalising social learning: Towards systemic and adaptive governance. Environmental Science & Policy, 53, 105–117. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2014.11.002

Kamuti, T. (2018). The Critical Nexus and Implications of Smallholder Tobacco Production as a Livelihood Strategy to Forest Landscapes in Zimbabwe. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201804.0114.v1

Lencucha, R., Pal, N. E., Appau, A., Thow, A.-M., & Drope, J. (2020). Government policy and agricultural production: a scoping review to inform research and policy on healthy agricultural commodities. Globalization and Health, 16(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-020-0542-2

Mackie, J. A. C. (1985). The Changing Political Economy of an Export Crop: The Case of Jember’s Tobacco Industry. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 21(1), 113–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918512331334983

Mazwi, F., Chambati, W., & Mudimu, G. T. (2020). Tobacco contract farming in Zimbabwe: power dynamics, accumulation trajectories, land use patterns and livelihoods. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 38(1), 55–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2020.1746752

Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis. sage.

Muktianto, R. T., & Diartho, H. C. (2018). Komoditas Tembakau Besuki Na-Oogst Dalam Perspektif Pembangunan Berkelanjutan Di Kabupaten Jember. Caraka Tani Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 33(2), 115. https://doi.org/10.20961/carakatani.v33i2.20598

Nascimento, T. C. do, Suarez, M. C., & Campos, R. D. (2022). An Integrative Review on Online Ethnography Methods: Differentiating Theoretical Bases, Potentialities and Limitations. Qualitative Market Research an International Journal, 25(4), 492–510. https://doi.org/10.1108/qmr-07-2021-0086

Newsham, A., Shonhe, T., & Bvute, T. (2021). Commercial Tobacco Production and Climate Change Adaptation in Mazowe, Zimbabwe. https://doi.org/10.19088/APRA.2021.023

Nguenha, N., Cunguara, B., Bialous, S., Drope, J., & Lencucha, R. (2021). An overview of the policy and market landscape of tobacco production and control in Mozambique. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(1), 343.

North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge university press.

Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic Analysis: Striving to Meet the Trustworthiness Criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847

Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge university press.

Partelow, S., & Nelson, K. (2020). Social networks, collective action and the evolution of governance for sustainable tourism on the Gili Islands, Indonesia. Marine Policy, 112. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2018.08.004

Promphakping, B., Chamaratana, T., Somaboot, P., Weeranakin, P., Promphakping, N., & Phatchaney, K. (2021). Why Does Tobacco Agriculture in Thailand Persist? Forest and Society, 543–558. https://doi.org/10.24259/fs.v5i2.13587

Ruckert, A., Labonté, R., Lencucha, R., Goma, F., & Drope, J. (2023). Exploring the political economy nexus of tobacco production and control: a case study from Zambia. Critical Public Health, 33(1), 25–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2021.1981540

Sahadewo, G. A., Drope, J., Li, Q., Witoelar, F., & Lencucha, R. (2020). In-and-out of tobacco farming: shifting behavior of tobacco farmers in Indonesia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(24), 9416.

Saldaña, J., & Omasta, M. (2016). Qualitative research: Analyzing life. Sage Publications.

Scoones, I., Mavedzenge, B., Murimbarimba, F., & Sukume, C. (2018). Tobacco, contract farming, and agrarian change in Zimbabwe. Journal of Agrarian Change, 18(1), 22–42. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12210

Sedyati, R. N., Djatmika, E. T., Wahyono, H., & Utomo, S. H. (2019). The Business Alteration for Tobacco Farmers: Lessons From Rural Area in Indonesia. Journal of Asian Finance Economics and Business, 6(4), 281–286. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2019.vol6.no4.281

Sharma, A., & Jaggi, R. (2022). Reconceptualising Digital Placemaking: A Netnographic Study From the State of Uttarakhand, India. Journal of Creative Communications, 18(3), 274–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/09732586221088137

Shiringo, L., Chundu, M., & Sithole, P. M. (2022). Contribution of Smallholder Tobacco Contract Farming to Economic and Human Development of Rural Communities in Zimbabwe: A Case of Igava Community, Marondera District. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10(09), 36–57. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2022.109004

Smith, J., & Fang, J. (2020). ‘If You Kill Tobacco, You Kill Malawi’: Structural Barriers to Tobacco Diversification for Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development, 28(6), 1575–1583. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2106

Sulistyono, N. B. E., Muksin, M., Farhan, F., Harlianingtyas, I., & Purwoko, D. (2022). Reorienting the Goal and Direction of Tobacco Agrotourism Development in Jember Indonesia. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220207.053

Vadjunec, J. M., Radel, C., & Turner, B. L. (2016). Introduction: The continued importance of smallholders today. In Land (Vol. 5, Number 4, p. 34). MDPI.

Whalen, E. (2018). Understanding a Shifting Methodology. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(11), 3423–3441. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-08-2017-0536