Echoes of Drought: The Struggles of Women in East Nusa Tenggara

I begin the story by expressing how depressing it was to witness Mama Bertha gathering dry Kesambi[1] wood along the rocky coast, boiling cassava leaves with noodles, and frying floured eggplant for her three kids: Ben, Andreas, and Charles, her husband, Stevanus, and a sudden visitor (read: a stranger)—who else but me. She expressed how difficult it has become nowadays as the prices of rice and flour increase and gas becomes scarce. Prior to the 1990s, Mama Bertha explained that sobol[2], rebok[3], and lama[4] were the main foods before the introduction of rice as the staple diet. Nowadays, those foods are considered the lowest level in the food chain and are scarce in the neighbourhood, as most locals plant rice instead of tubers, cassavas, and potatoes. Ironically, this dependency on rice has caused troubles, as the local rice stock is deficient by 125,390 tonnes (BPS, 2023), only capable of feeding 23% of the total East Nusa Tenggara (NTT)’s inhabitants (Herin, 2024). “What else could it be but the impact of imported needs and frequent droughts!”, Mama said.

Fig. 1. Spot aing capek dan menumpang makan + tidur di Satar Mese

It was late May 2024, and I was a quarter of the way to Larantuka from Labuan Bajo, navigating the narrow, rocky, hilly, and dusty road of southern Satar Mese, near the Sumba Strait. I stopped at Mama Bertha’s tiny store, begging for dinner, a place to sleep, and directions as I had no signal. I intended to be on vacation, yet Mama Bertha’s bedtime story about expensive rice, drought, and Suwanggi[5] switched me into researcher mode. Some studies verified those notion, NTT has experienced 25 months of extreme droughts between 1995 and 2015 and is expected to face longer droughts (Kuswanto et al., 2018). Simulations indicate that NTT will experience around 180 consecutive dry days[6] per year by the end of this century (Fig. 2). Moreover, as the province is also sensitive to El Niño, a climate change adaptation has to be prioritized to urgently address the poverty (Firda & Estiningtyas, 2021).

Fig. 2. NTT is expected to have around 180 consecutive dry days without rain at the end of the century (simulated data retrieved from IPCC, 2021). It is obvious that NTT would suffer drought more than the rest.

The Indonesian poor, who make up 9.82% of the total population, are historically underserved and disproportionately affected by drought, worsening their economic livelihoods more than the rich (Skoufias et al., 2011). I believe this concern is relevant to NTT, the third poorest province in Indonesia, where 19.96% of the inhabitants are poor. In Waingapu, I met Yola, a passionate teacher for the marginalized community at the Sumba Hospitality Foundation. She showed me how hard it is for the community, especially for women who often have the responsibility of fetching water for daily cooking. In the poorest regions, such as Sabu Raijua and Sumba Tengah, only around 50% of residents have access to proper drinking water (Fig. 3) (BPS, 2023). According to SMERU (2006), the poorest of the poor in NTT are women, largely due to the strong Belis, a tradition that generally adheres to a patrilineal system and values clan or ethnic group identity. A story from Mama Bertha validates these academic findings: she performed a double burden role, taking care of their children (reproductive role) and running a store and gathering wood (productive role), as her husband has lately been unable to find construction work due to a lack of skills compared to his Javanese co-workers.

Fig. 3. The six poorest regions and their water access in NTT (BPS, 2023).

Women experience poverty to a greater extent than men in Indonesia (World Bank, 2018) and I suppose there has not been significant improvement in reducing the gender gap in NTT (Fig. 5). To address such problems, women in NTT migrate for better opportunities. The latest figures show that among 56,705 migrants from Sumba Tengah, Rote Ndao, and Sabu Raijua, 57.4% are women (BPS, 2020). However, due to extreme poverty, droughts, lack of educational facilities, lack of jobs, and monopolization of agrarian lands, women often end up being trafficked (Wetangterah, 2017). Although there is no clear number of trafficking victims in Indonesia, it is estimated that there have been around 4,906 reported victims since 2012. 754 of them are in NTT, with 55% being women and 29% children (Putri et al., 2022; Susanti et al., 2020). There have also been several extreme cases where female migrants returned home in coffins, with permanent disabilities, and worse mental health (Suwarno et al., 2018).

Fig. 4. Poor road infrastructure

I notice that the climate crisis has pushed women into a deadly road. In 2021 alone, 83 NTT residents returned home in coffins, having been trapped by illegal migrant work (Irfani, 2024). Indeed, women's trafficking here is likely caused by structural poverty, which will certainly be worsened by longer droughts in the coming decades. Women are often pressured to perform productive roles to pay marriage dowries, usually in the form of buffaloes or cows. Based on data summarized as the Gender Empowerment and Inequality Index, I argue that women are far behind men (Fig. 3). While men attend school for an average of 9 years (junior school), women only have the privilege for 6 years (elementary school). The labour participation rate for men is around 80%, while for women it is only 60%. Unfortunately, most women work as casual labourers, earning less than men and often listed as "buruh tidak dibayar" (unpaid workers) by BPS (2023). These marginalized communities are also not well represented in the decision-making process, with female representation in parliamentary seats at less than 10%, and even 0% in poor regions like Rote Ndao and Sumba Tengah. I wonder how often women's needs are accommodated in the planning process. I suppose the answer is rarely, as the number of stunted children remains high in poor regions like Rote Ndao and Sumba Barat Daya, reaching up to 20-30% of total children.

Fig. 5. The six poorest regions have the widest gender gaps (BPS, 2023). Gender equality is below the national and provincial averages[7]

I highlight a research gap in understanding the relationship between drought and poverty which lead to women’s trafficking. There is a lack of empirical studies discussing the intersectionality of gender, poverty leading to trafficking, and climate change adaptation in NTT, partly due to lower women's participation in adaptation planning and a lack of disaggregated data (Dougherty et al., 2016; Susilorini et al., 2021). Furthermore, such research will identify the construction of the feminization of poverty—women’s subordination to maximize their function to access education, health, and infrastructure (Chant, 2008). This idea emphasizes the importance of viewing drought and trafficking issues not just as numbers affecting women, but as a process of how women’s subordination is constructed and how it may change over time due to climate change (Medeiros & Costa, 2006). It is essential to understand the marginalized women as gender equality in participation plays a more systematic role in poverty eradication than economic growth does in reducing gender gaps (Kabeer & Natali, 2013).

These photos below summarized my most-provoking-thought moments:

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[1] Endemic fauna only found in hot-dry climate of NTT, used to smoke the bacon to make Se’i

[2] Fried dough made from dried cassava with sugar

[3] Similar to sobol but made from rice without drying process

[4] Similar to sobol but made from corns and coconut

[5] A name for a local ghost

[6] Consecutive dry days (CDD) is scientific term for days without rain or with less than 1 mm of precipitation

[7] GEI is based on three indicators: women’s income, female share in political power, and women in strategic managerial positions. GII is a composite metric of gender inequality using three dimensions: reproductive health (maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rate), empowerment (ratio of secondary education attendance and share of parliamentary seats), and labour participation rate.

References:

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BPS. (2023). Tabel Dinamis. Badan Pusat Statistik Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur. https://ntt.bps.go.id/site/pilihdata.html

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