This paper focuses on four decades of social history of swidden cultivation of the Sahu, Halmahera. Although Sahu is the vastest swidden rice growing area of the North Moluccas, its story is hardly known. Swidden rice farming can be characterized as rotational, with fallows between 7 - 12 (up to 50) years. During the 19^th century it served as the ‘granary’ for the sultanate of Ternate. At the turn of the 20^th century rice had already replaced sago as the staple food, although other food crops remain widely available until today (Visser 2019). Swidden rice cultivation and land use practices are closely interrelated with a patrilineal organization of access and rights to land. This historical organisation has ongoing relevance to sustain tenure security at the level of the family and the Sahu domain as a whole. Also, the important role of women as linkages between affinal land holding groups, and the changes in the gendered organisation of agriculture will be discussed. The Sahu are pretty food secure and food sovereign. But the modern need for a constant, short-term flow of money and growing individualism result in a shift away from food production toward cash cropping, and related shifts in gender and age-group participation in agriculture. The paper provides a short overview of the changes and adjustments under the rapidly changing social, cultural, economic and political conditions since the 1980s until today.

Keywords: Eastern Indonesia, modernity, swidden cultivation, gender shifts.

Reference:

Visser, L.E., 2019. Sejarah Pertanian dan Kebudayaan Sahu, Halmahera. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Ombak.