Paper short abstract:

Local food systems in Indonesia have witnessed rapid change in production, trade and consumption patterns. Bali’s food system for example, is now testing environmental limits, and the paper explores emerging vulnerabilities.

Paper long abstract:

Local food systems in Indonesia have been witness to rapid change in production, trade and consumption patterns. The highland region and northern coast of Bali is one such system, with centuries of documented regional trade relations between coastal and highland communities with complementary food products. Modernisation of agriculture in the 20th century, and especially in the last two decades, have pushed this system well beyond the limits of what is sustainable and have led to severe environmental damage and biodiversity loss. Agricultural intensification has been achieved at the cost of changes in land use, intense cash cropping and more aggressive forms of livestock and poultry production. Dependence on imported inputs is increasing, and there is a decline in the availability of food security through social support mechanisms such as labour sharing and food exchange. Finally, urbanisation has created a large population of food insecure low-income families who are being priced out of the market by the tourism industry's voracious appetite for fresh food. These factors combine to produce a decrease in Bali's food sovereignty and rising vulnerability, especially in a context of increasing climate change impacts.