To Farm Or Not to Farm?

To Farm or not to Farm?

Diversification of resources and livelihood strategies in Marop Atas

Interdisciplinary Land Use and Natural Resource Management (ILUNRM) 2020

Authors:

Aleksandra Czuchaj, Federico D’Ascanio, Polina Blinova, Sebastian Lukman

Supervised by:

Torben Birch-Thomsen & Kristine Juul & Frauke Tom H. Mennes

Abstract

A livelihood strategy is an organized set of lifestyle choices and activities influenced by human, natural, economic, social and physical resources undertaken by households to provide a means of living. In the village of Marop Atas in Malaysian Borneo, we conducted a research to determine which are the resources utilized by villagers affecting their livelihood strategies. A combination of both natural and social methods helped us answer our research question. The most fundamental strategies we identified in the village are farming and not farming activities which have a direct effect on the environment. Most of the villagers also apply to Federal schemes, which are provided by the government of Sarawak and implemented as rural development projects to alleviate poverty.

Keywords: Livelihood Strategies, Resources, Diversification of activities, Governmental Schemes, Environment, Rural Development

Acknowledgments

This report is the product of the course “Interdisciplinary Land Use and Natural Resource Management (ILUNRM)” and the content is based on data collected during a study in MaropAtas, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, between 26th of February to 8th of March.

We wish to thank all the people who helped make the SLUSE an amazing experience for all of us. Firstly, we would like to thank the University of Copenhagen and our supervisors Dr. Torben Birch-Thomsen, Dr. Kristine Juul and Frauke Tom H Mennes for their constant support, guidance and feedback before, during and after the field trip.

Furthermore, we would like to thank the coordinators and professors of UNIMAS Dr. Haslina Hashim, Dr. Tay Meng Guan and other coordinators and professors for their generous support throughout the research.

We want to thank our UNIMAS counterparts Farah, Abigail, Melissa and Razzak for being collaborative partners to work with and for sharing their knowledge with us. We would also like to thank our interpreters Leo and Niru, for their patience and great help in group discussions and for defining interaction with the community regarding fundamental topics and keywords, relevant for our research.

Finally, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the longhouse community of Marop Atas, especially the headman Langkop ak Sedom, for their hospitality and willingness to participate in our fieldwork research. Last but not least, a special thank you to auntie Gelok anak Sedo for giving us the opportunity to stay in her house, who kindly let us use her kitchen, washing machine and generously cooked for us for the entire period.

To all, a big thank you, terima kasih.

List of Figures

1 Location of Marop Atas within Sarawak and Malaysia

2 Geographical location of the two longhouses

3 A framework for micro policy analysis of rural livelihoods

4 First transect walk

5 Second transect walk

6 The GPS device we used throughout our all fieldwork research

7 Location of the 3 water stations tested

8 The Group is testing the quality of the water catchment area

9 Representation of the device HACH DR890 Colorimeter

10 Representation of the device ecoTestr pH1

11 Position of the Old Forest and Forest Resource Assessment

12 A representation of a rat trap and humane trap

13 A historical map of longhouses in Marop Atas

14 Level of education in the village

15 Organizational chart of Marop Atas

16 Graph shows number of households for which farming, non-farming occupation and remittances are the fi