This study examines the key factors influencing the welfare of farmers in Indonesia.
This study integrates quantitative analysis using multiple national representative datasets with machine learning techniques to predict farmer income with high accuracy data. Focus group discussions and field interviews are also used to get qualitative insights into regional disparities.
This study’s findings indicate that farmers with higher educational attainment, better infrastructure investment, access to digital communication and financial services tend to achieve higher net incomes. Furthermore, social protection programs are necessary for improving welfare outcomes.
This study limitation includes using land size and fertilizer usage as a percentage of farmers in a municipality, instead of at the individual level, since we are combining data from different data sources. While combining micro data with aggregate data creates richer insights, it may obscure heterogeneity at the individual level. This study includes farmer’s digitalization and assets; this study is unable to capture machinery and the use of artificial intelligence for each farmer. Yet, it still provides valuable insight for understanding many factors related to farmer’s prosperity in developing countries.
The findings of this study carry profound social implications for the advancement of farmers' prosperity, underscoring that human capital and infrastructure are fundamental determinants of rural equity. Extending education, internet access, and localized training is vital to empower marginalized smallholders. Socially, the isolation caused by poor road infrastructure demonstrates how geographic neglect deprives rural farmers of critical market integration. Deploying targeted social protection alongside multi-stakeholder financing can significantly enhance farmers' economic resilience. To maximize impact, a phased and targeted integration approach is necessary to ensure effective implementation across strategically identified regions, ensuring that agricultural productivity interventions are holistically deployed across the entire value chain from production to market distribution.
To the best of our knowledge and belief, this study contains no material previously published or written by another person, nor does it include contents that are falsified or fabricated.
