Sustainable Livelihoods in Indonesia

Community development, as a set of community-based values, processes and practices that place the needs, wisdom, skills and strategies of disadvantaged communities “at the front rather than the end of political debate” (Craig 1998: 15), would appear to offer an obvious methodology for sustainable livelihood practice. This is because community development involves people working together to ensure community viability, in all its aspects. It is driven by principles of caring and mutuality rather than the exploitation of resources for profit. However, the relationship between sustainable livelihoods and community development is complex and from some perspectives it is quite tenuous. This chapter begins by locating the idea of sustainable livelihoods in the broader discourse of sustainable development, which has become a central concern in the aid and development industry over the past few decades. We suggest that notwithstanding recent attempts to “put people first” in the discussions of sustainability, the sustainable development discourse has remained largely one in which experts debate the criteria and mechanisms of sustainability, leaving little room for community development. We ask the question “what do sustainable livelihoods look like when community development methods are used by people to construct and practice their own sustainable livelihood?” In answering this question we explore examples in two locations in Indonesia, West Sumatra and Aceh.