Tobacco Farmers in the Economic Context of Temanggung Regency, 1990–1998

Abstract

This article analyzes tobacco farmers within the economic context of Temanggung Regency from 1990 to 1998, focusing on the economic lives of farming households as the center of local historical study. The study addresses three key questions: the role of tobacco in household economies; how farmers coped with changes in production, quality, financing, and trade practices; and why 1998 marked a critical turning point in the emergence of farmers’ economic vulnerabilities. The study employs historical methodology through the stages of heuristics, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography. Primary sources consist of oral accounts from historical actors who experienced the development of tobacco farming since the early 1990s, field documentation, and contemporary newspapers. All sources were cross-checked with regional statistics and previous research to situate individual experiences within the economic context of Temanggung Regency. The findings indicate that from the early to mid-1990s, tobacco served as a source of cash income to meet household needs, fund education, pay off debts, purchase assets, and expand businesses. These benefits simultaneously increased dependence on weather, quality, capital, buyers, and marketing channels. The year 1998 marked a turning point when rainfall during the harvest season, declining quality and prices, rising input costs, off-season debt, and weak bargaining power all occurred simultaneously. These findings indicate that tobacco creates a paradoxical relationship between high income potential and the concentration of household economic risk.