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The impact of the economic crisis on Indonesia's cocoa sector : working paper 99.20

Ruf F.. 1999. s.l. : s.n., 23 p..

After the 'El Nino' drought in 1997, 1998 will be remembered as the 'krismon', or the year of dire monetary depreciation in Indonesia. However, in Sulawesi, in a free market background, a highly competitive marketing chain, and an already booming economy, its cocoa sector is experiencing an unexpected and fabulous windfall: the price of cocoa increased five fold within a few months. This helped farmers in the hills to recoup the losses in yields caused by the drought, and even slightly improve their purchasing power. In the plains, where the cocoa trees resisted the drought quite well, the windfall enabled farmers to buy motorcycles, cars, improve their houses and also to invest in new land. The Sulawesi cocoa sector was already booming before the crisis, but 1998 definitely was the cocoa year. It will accelerate deforestation and investments in new plantings and create jobs. Rice farmers and people from the rice growing regions will keep coming to cocoa pioneer fronts in the highest numbers. However, those who gain the greatest profit from the 1998 windfall are the already established cocoa farmers who have all required information and experience about cocoa. Very few new migrants seem to have come from cities, and none from among unemployed people in the cities.

Mots-clés : theobroma cacao; fève de cacao; analyse économique; forêt; facteur de production; prix à la production; revenu de l'exploitation; dépression économique; indonésie; sulawesi; bali; cacao

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