RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PAPERS IN THIS VOLUME
Martha Masterman

My paper focused on the prospects for developing Indonesia's cash crop sector, particularly in light of the financial crisis of the last two years. The transitional nature of rice as a primary crop has led to the need for crop diversification. Additionally, the increased value of cash crops on the world market with the weakened rupiah has created a boon for rural farmers and exporters of these crops. Many of these crops are early in their transitional stages, and thus are prime candidates for assistance as they have the potential for increased yields and productivity.

 Several of the papers presented in this monograph introduced new issues to consider in light of my topic. The diverse needs and appropriateness of local responsiveness for policy in health care, a microcredit banking model, and a country with a similar cash crop to Indonesia brought out issues that should be considered for the development of Indonesia's rural agricultural sector. These are described below.

Taufik Hanafi's paper, Towards Sustainable Health Care Development in Indonesia, focuses on the prospects for decentralized policy-making in the health care sector. The paper expresses that because of the diverse nature and subsequent needs of the Indonesian population, different types of health care policy intervention are appropriate i.e. one size does not fit all. This is true of the agricultural sector in Indonesia as well. In order for each of the important cash crops described in my paper to smoothly experience an agricultural transition, each crop needs to be considered individually. The diverse geographical, cultural, and geological environments of the many islands of Indonesia deserve localized attention. While I do recommend government policy intervention to boost the agricultural sector, Taufik's paper drove home the importance of tailoring policy to the unique situations around Indonesia, on the islands of Sulawesi, Sumatra, Java, Irian Jaya, Bali, Timor, and others.

Lewis Garvin's paper, The Grameen Bank Potential: Two Paths to Alleviating Poverty in Bangladesh, links the work of the Grameen Bank to poverty alleviation, population stability, and dulling the impact of natural disasters in Bangladesh. Although the Bank focuses on the landless, the model could work well in the rural agricultural sector of Indonesia. Like Bangladesh, Indonesia has a high proportion of people employed in farming activities. These are mostly poor people who hold very little land. The Grameen bank model uses loans to empower people and make them productive members of their communities. It has achieved a payback rate of 98% by using "social capital" to ensure the successful payback of loans. Loans are given in groups, and each group member has an incentive to evaluate proposed loans carefully because the renewal of their own loans depends upon the successful payback of loans by all group members. The groups acts as an effective filter for loan approval and then provides both support and peer pressure to ensure that loans are paid back once extended. Indonesia's culture operates very much in this fashion; the group is more important than the individual, and group social pressure is very strong. If such a model were implemented to create a cooperative farming structure for cash crops, such as coffee and spices, farmers would be more accountable for its success. The Grameen model could improve the productivity and incomes of the rural sectors in both of these countries, and guide the sector through a successful transition.

Christina Welter's paper describes the Ugandan economy as being "stuck in transition." Uganda, like Indonesia, has sectors that are highly dependent on the world economy and particularly on developed markets. Coffee, for example, is the number one export of Uganda, and Indonesia is the world's 3rd largest producer of coffee. Many farmers' livelihoods are dependent on this crop. For that reason, both countries would be well advised to lessen their dependency by increasing the world market value of these crops. With production of specialty coffee, farmers move some distance (although not completely) away from the swings of a commodity market. Additionally, a high percentage of Uganda's population is in the agriculture sector (86%), which has led to environmental overuse and degradation of wetlands. Indonesia, although facing problems related more to urban migration, needs to preserve the sustainability of agricultural production. For example, much of the land in Java is overworked and overpopulated.