"City Girl" Studies Rural Agriculture

Laraswati Ariadne Anwar

· 5 minutes read

Sahu district in West Halmahera, North Maluku, may just be a small dot on the map for most Indonesians.

However, for 71-year-old anthropology professor Leontine Elisabeth Visser, from the Netherlands’ Wageningen University & Research, Sahu is a research paradise with much cultural wealth to explore. She has been studying Sahu for nearly 40 years.

"I am a city girl who is interested in researching the culture of agriculture," Visser said on Tuesday (23/7/2019) in Yogyakarta, on the sidelines of the launch of her book, Sejarah Pertanian dan Kebudayaan Sahu di Halmahera (History of Sahu agriculture and culture in Halmahera, Penerbit Ombak, 2019). The book launch was part of the 7th International Symposium of Journal Anthropologi Indonesia (ISJAI), held 22-25 July 2019 at Gadjah Mada University’s Faculty of Cultural Sciences.

The book on the people of Sahu is based on extensive research Visser conducted in 1979-1981, and ranges from their philosophy to social structure and to land rights. Until 2017, she traveled every year from the Netherlands to Sahu, and stays there for several weeks to visit her adoptive family while gathering field data.

Her research shows that private property does not exist in Sahu culture. Land is collective property that is managed by a community, or garan. No individual is permitted to sell land without first consulting all members of the garan.

My hope is that through this book, all parties that seek to develop land or infrastructure in Sahu will be able to understand the prevailing customary arrangements

The customary law was disrupted with the issuance of a positive law on land ownership that regulates the use of government and customary lands. "My hope is that through this book, all parties that seek to develop land or infrastructure in Sahu will be able to understand the prevailing customary arrangements," said Visser.

Born and raised in the Haag, Visser pursued her tertiary education at Leiden University, obtaining a doctorate in structural anthropology with a focus on rural studies – an interest that differed from her urban upbringing.

She first researched tropical agriculture while she was completing her master’s thesis in 1973, when she was invited to join a Leiden research team to conduct a study in the Ivory Coast, West Africa. At that time, the country was seeing a flow of migrants from neighboring Burkina Faso, which has a very dry climate. The migrants crossed into the Ivory Coast in search of fertile farmland.

Because of her six-month field research in the Ivory Coast, her name was included on a 1977 list of potential foreign researchers for conducting a study on Halmahera Island under the National Institute on Social Economy of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). LIPI anthropology professor E.K.M. Masinambouw had initiated the project to compile data on Halmahera.

Koentjaraningrat, considered the “father” of Indonesian anthropology, had suggested Visser. In 1977, seven Indonesian researchers and 12 foreign researchers, including Visser, were selected to conduct the initial mapping of Halmahera. The only areas of the island known at the time were Tidore, Ternate and Jailolo.

Visser said she first visited Galela to study communal farming. However, the local people suggested she go to Sahu, because the area was located in a fertile valley along the Akelamo River that was suitable for cultivating rice on arid land.

For me, this was an adventure. I was young

As soon as she completed the mapping project and returned to the Netherlands, Visser drafted a proposal for a research project on Sahu – a risky venture because no single reference on Sahu existed. "For me, this was an adventure. I was young," Visser recalled.

She left for Sahu in July 1979, traveling from Amsterdam to Singapore and then to Manado, North Sulawesi. From Manado, she flew to Ternate on a Twin Otter. The small aircraft could not accommodate the metal trunks containing her books, so she had to leave them behind in Manado. The books were theoretical references that were important to her research.

On arriving in Ternate, she became acquainted with Usman, a tour guide, who helped arrange accommodation for her month-long stay. She learned Ambonese and Malay from Usman and his family, who also helped arrange the delivery of her trunks from Manado.

A month later, Visser crossed from Ternate to Jailolo on an 80-horsepower wooden boat, which took 2.5 hours. Here journey continued by pickup to finally arrive at Sahu.

Visser writes in her book that the people of Sahu face an uncertain future. Over time, the younger generation began abandoning agriculture to find work in the city, even though Sahu was rich in rice, coconuts, cacao and nutmeg. The people live in general comfort and are able to afford clothing, food and houses. However, they are unable to pay for education and health services.

Leontine Elisabeth Visser

Born: The Haag, Netherlands, 4 December 1947

Husband: CL Voorhoeve

Children: Three

Education: Bachelor-doctoral degrees, Leiden University, Netherlands

Occupation: Anthropology professor, Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands

Bibliography: Sejarah Pertanian dan Kebudayaan Sahu di Halmahera (History of Sahu agriculture and culture in Halmahera), Yogyakarta, Penerbit Ombak, 2019

Editor:

kompascetak culture of agriculture leontine elisabeth visser