Food for growth: Trends in Indonesia's food supply, 1880-1995

Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Volumn 30, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 591-616

  Van Der Eng, Pierre ^a  

^a AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0012439175     PISSN: 00221953     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1162/002219500552072     Document Type: Review

References (45)

1. Colin Clark and Margaret Haswell, The Economics of Subsistence Agriculture (London, 1967) 1-23;
2. FAO web pages, http://www.fao.org/waicent/faostat/agricult/fbs-e.htm (accessed 3 January 1999).
3. Concerning the shortcomings of the food balance, see, for example, Helen. C. Farnsworth "Defects and Abuses of National Food Supply and Consumption Data," Food Research Institute Studies, II (1961), 179-201;
4. Thomas T. Poleman, "Quantifying the Nutrition Situation in Developing Countries," Food Research Institute Studies, XVIII (1981), 1-58;
5. Elizabeth A. Dowler and Young Ok Seo, "Assessment of Energy Intake: Estimates of Food Supply v Measurement of Food Consumption," Food Policy, X (1985), 278-288.
6. Harry T. Oshima, "Food Consumption, Nutrition, and Economic Development in Asian Countries," Economic Development and Cultural Change, XV (1966/67), 385-395;
7. Pedro Belli, "The Economic Implications of Malnutrition: The Dismal Science Revisited," Economic Development and Cultural Change, XX (1971/72), 1-23;
8. Walton T. Wilford, "Nutritional Levels and Economic Growth: Some Empirical Measures," Journal of Economic Issues, VII (1973), 437-458. These studies drew attention to the role of food supply in explaining differences in economic performance between nations by stressing the economic effects of malnutrition.
9. Jean Toutain, "La Consommation alimentaire en France de 1789 à 1964," Économies et Sociétés, X (1971), 1909-2049;
10. Hiromitsu Kaneda, "Long-Term Changes in Food Consumption Patterns in Japan," in Bruce F. Johnston et al. (eds.), Agriculture and Economic Growth: Japan's Experience (Princeton, 1970), 398-431;
11. Patricia van den Eeckhout and Peter Scholliers, "De Hoofdelijke Voedselconsumptie in België, 1831-1939," Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis, IX (1983), 273-301;
12. Tumari Jatileksono, Equity Achievement in the Indonesian Rice Economy (Yogyakarta, 1987), 73;
13. Mubyarto, Pengantar Ekonomi Pertanian (Jakarta, 1987), 126-128.
14. The first estimate of per capita food supply was Marin G. van Heel, "Plantaardige Voedingsmiddelen op Java en Madoera," Koloniale Studiën, II (1917/18), 270-284. A more elaborate study was
15. X. F. Crince le Roy, "Raming der voor het Verbruik op Java en Madoera Beschikbare Hoeveelheden der Voornaamste Plantaardige Voedingsmiddelen in de Jaren 1921 tot en met 1930," Landbouw, VII (1931/32), 160-194. The results of these studies differed, because population data were inaccurate and caloric-conversion factors changed with later results of new research into food technology.
16. See, for example, M. B. Smits, De Voomaamste Middelen van Bestaan van de Inlandsche Bevolking der Buitengewesten (Buitenzorg, 1928);
17. Anne M. P. A. Scheltema, "De Voeding van de Inlandsche Bevolking van Nederlandsch-Indië," Koloniale Studiën, XIV (1930), 368-394.
18. One estimate suggests that about 460 gm of rice per capita was consumed per day in the Outer Islands, and 260 gm in Java. Chris Lulofs, De Voedselvoorziening van Nederlandsch-Indië (Batavia, 1918), 114-136. Estimates of food consumption in the regular National Socio-Economic Surveys (Susenas) since 1964 confirm that calorie consumption in the Outer Islands has been significantly higher than in Java.
19. David M. Blankhart, "Food Balance Sheet (Preliminary Report), Persoalan Kebutuhan Makanan di Indonesia," in M. Sardjito (ed.), Laporan Ilmu Kongres Pengetahuan Nasional No. 1, Malang 5-9 Augustus 1958 (Jakarta, 1958), 349-364;
20. B. Napitupulu and Sunardjo, "Perkembangan Persediaan Bahan Makanan di Indonesia dalam Djangka Waktu 1951-1959," Medan Ilmu Pengetahuan, III (1962), 379-421;
21. Leon A. Mears and Saleh Affif, "Carbohydrate Foods in Indonesian Diet," Ekonoini dan Keuangan Indonesia, XVI (1963), 19-46;
22. A. G. van Veen, "Report to the Government of Indonesia on Food and Nutrition Policy in Relation to the Food Needs," FAO Nutrition Consultants Reports Series No. 14 (Rome, 1970).
23. In previous publications, I have sought to correct the available data on population, food production, and foreign trade of food crops for inconsistencies in definition and coverage (see Appendix). Together with other data on, for example, inter-island trade and food stocks held by the state food logistical agency, and certain assumptions, it has been possible to construct estimates of food supply for Java from 1880 to 1952 and for Indonesia as a whole from 1953 to 1995, as explained in the Appendix. It is not possible to distinguish Java from the Outer Islands in the latter period, because published data on rice imports and exports and stocks held by the state food logistic agency pertain to the country as a whole. Moreover, annual data on inter-island shipments of food are not available after World War II. The results of any food balance depend on the reliability of the basic data concerning population, production, foreign trade, and stock changes. They also depend on assumptions about the deduction rates (seed use; feed; losses during milling, transport, and processing; and offal share), slaughter rates, and slaughter weights, as well as conversion factors. A rough approximation of daily per capita consumption of food products not covered: GRAMS KCAL PROTEIN (G) Vegetables 120 35 2.0 Fruits 45 20 0.5 Fresh Fish 13 15 2.0 Chicken/eggs 12 40 2.0 Total 110 6.5 Cf. G. J. A. Terra, "De Voeding der Bevolking en de Erfcultuur," Koloniale Studiën, XVI (1932), 552-593;
24. G. C. W. Chr. Tergast, "Indonesië's Inheemsche Landbouw," Indonesië, V (1951), 73-92.
25. This study's estimates of available rice per capita are lower than the estimates of, for example, Scheltema, The Food Consumption of the Native Inhabitants of Java and Madura (Batavia, 1936),
26. and Leon A. Mears, "Rice and Food Self-Sufficiency in Indonesia," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, XX (1984), 126. Unlike the others, this study deducted seed use per harvested hectare. It was not possible to correct all years for crop failures and estimate seed use per planted hectare. Scheltema made no deductions. Mears deducted only a fixed percentage of production. Another reason for the differences is that different population estimates were used.
27. This paragraph is based on van der Eng, "Cassava in Indonesia: A Historical Re-Appraisal of an Enigmatic Food Crop," Southeast Asian Studies, XXXVI (1998), 3-31.
28. Paul Alexander and Jennifer Alexander, "Sugar, Rice and Irrigation in Colonial Java," Ethnohistory, XXV (1978), 207-233.
29. This paragraph is based on several chapters in van der Eng, Agricultural Growth in Indonesia: Productivity Change and Policy Impact since 1880 (Basingstoke, 1996).
30. Unfortunately, indicators of trends in the consumption of fish or vegetables are insufficient to determine that increased consumption of cassava was accompanied by an increase in the consumption of these foods.
31. van der Eng, "The Real Domestic Product of Indonesia, 1880-1989," Explorations in Economic History, XXVIII (1992), 343-373.
32. John Komlos, "Shrinking in A Growing Economy? The Mystery of Physical Stature during the Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, LVIII (1998), 779-802. This use of usual food expenditure for other purchases implies that the macroeconomic confirmation of Engel's Law takes the shape of an inverse double logarithmic curve, meaning that after a specific level of GDP per capita is reached, the curve slopes downward.
33. Oshima, "Food Consumption," 387, made this observation for Japan during the period 1950-1963.
34. van der Eng, Food Supply in Java during War and Decolonisation, 1940-1950 (Hull, 1994);
35. idem, "Regulation and Control: Explaining the Decline of Food Production in Java, 1940-46," in Paul H. Kratoska (ed.), The Economic Impact of the Japanese Occupation on Southeast Asia (Basingstoke, 1998), 187-207.
36. Hal Hill, The Indonesian Economy since 1966: Southeast Asia's Emerging Giant (Cambridge, 1996), 191-199;
37. Van der Eng, "Cassava in Indonesia," 19. Unfortunately, the exact magnitude and relative importance of the income-and-substitution effects are impossible to trace. Although results of the triannual national surveys of household consumption and expenditure in Indonesia since 1964 are theoretically apropos, these data grossly underestimate food consumption, particularly of non-rice food crops, making the substitution effect particularly difficult to trace.
38. See, for example, Ahmad Suryana, "Consumption and Demand for Selected Food in Indonesia," Indonesian Agricultural Research and Development Journal, X (1988), 1-8.
39. Willem F. Wertheim, "La Population de l'Indonésie et Le Test des 40%," Population, IX (1954), 655-674, developed this "forty percent test" to approximate the birth rate for Indonesia during the 19305 on the basis of the observation that in most developing countries, the share of people aged fifteen years and younger is around 40 percent. One major problem with the data in Table 1 is that until 1905, population statistics were used to assess the statute labor obligations of indigenous Indonesians. The age of boys was often given low to evade these regulations.
40. Simon Postmus and A. G. van Veen, "Dietary Surveys in Java and East-Indonesia," Chronica Naturae, CV (1949), 229;
41. Maarten Timmer, Child Mortality and Population Pressure in the D.I. Jogjakarta, Java, Indonesia: A Social-Medical Study (Rotterdam, 1961), 396, 400.
42. WHO, Energy and Protein Requirements (Geneva, 1985), 133-135.
43. Energy intake and work output in terms of hours worked do not have to be positively correlated in the long run, because structurally low energy intake tends to cause stunted human growth rather than prolonged lethargy and low hours worked per year. A low energy intake at a low body weight may generate a relatively high number of hours worked. See Wade C. Edmundson and Pandurang V. Sukhatme, "Energy Intake and Human Productivity," in Edmundson, Sukhatme, and Stella A. Edmundson, Diet, Disease and Development (Delhi, 1992), 56-83.
44. Gerrit J. Vink, De Grondslagen van het Indonesische Landbouwbedrijf (Wageningen, 1941), 106.
45. Van der Eng, "Cassava in Indonesia," 9.