the political economy of avian influenza: indonesia by paul forster

The Political Economy of Avian Influenza:

SE Asia country study workshop

Indonesia

Paul Forster [email protected]

26 & 27 February 2009, Lansdowne Place Hotel, Brighton

mailto:[email protected]

Indonesia - basic facts

• 235 million people - 5,000 km, 17,500 island archipelago - 6,000 inhabited

• 300+ ethnic groups speaking 700+ languages and dialects• $3,471 GDP per capita (PPP, 2006) but 40% live on less than $2 a day• Java - population density 1,000+ per sq km - rapid, massive urbanisation

• Also produces more poultry on less land to feed more people than anywhere…

www.steps-centre.org

H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian InfluenzaWHO: Avian influenza – situation in Indonesia – update 45 9 December 2008


• August 2003 - Central Java. Reported January 2004 Commercial sector – breeding stock from China or Thailand• 2004 - Java, Bali, Kalimantan and south Sumatra• 2005 - Sulawesi, North Sumatra and Aceh. 2006 - Papua• 2008 - 31 of 33 provinces had reported outbreaks

Poultry & people

• 30 million households - 60% - keep 300 million birds

• Culturally important - pride, prestige, toys

• The poor - something to eat and trade, and savings

• Negative images are not understood


Food

• The favourite meat and consumption rising

• 1.2 billion chickens consumed each year

• Poultry population around one billion

• 60% of the national flock on Java

• No exports and negligible imports


Shopping

• Live birds preferred• ‘Halal’ slaughter often

important• Supermarkets not

trusted, especially frozen meat

• Over 70% of production to 13,000 live poultry markets

• Jakarta - 80% of 1 million chickens consumed daily


Big business

• Large commercial sector - employs over one million• Ten companies control all industrial production• Three are responsible for 70% of the market• Integrated from feed to fast-food restaurants

• Do not trust the government’s competence or intentions• Little co-operation among business actors• Sub-contracting schemes - wide movements…


Market chains

“If you were going to design a system to spread an infectious poultry disease, it would look something like this. Combine it with the number of backyard birds in Indonesia, and you have the virus flowing everywhere.”Market chain for layer birds on Bali (Thornton 2007)


Power & politics - the past

1945 - 1965 President Sukarno• authoritarian, ‘charismatic’• Disastrous nationalist, quasi-

socialist economic policies• Deposed in complex coup

1965 - 1998 President Suharto• authoritarian, corrupt, ‘paternalistic’• ‘New Order’ - aid and investment,

significant economic growth • Resigned after urban riots in midst

of regional economic crisis


Power & politics - today

• 1998 - ‘Reformasi’ era - liberalisation, political and economic stabilisation

• July 2004 - Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono elected in free presidential elections

• Challenges of democracy and creating efficient, transparent government

• An ‘anarcho-democracy’ – popular protest common and met by political compromise

• Fragmented multi-party system; complex ‘rainbow’ cabinets

• Still little trust in government to be clean or competent

• Collusion with big business – lax regulation


Other priorities

• Earthquakes, landslides, floods, volcanic eruptions

• Aircraft crash, ferries sink, buildings burn• Separatist agitation and intermittent sectarian violence• Malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, polio, dengue fever, rabies• Economic uncertainty, inadequate infrastructure• 26 December 2003 - the Indian Ocean tsunami

“If you look at all the other issues, avian influenza is just a little rattle deep in the Indonesian machine. It’s not really part of the national debate. No one takes it seriously.”


Legislation and the rule of law

1967 Law on Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Hygiene:• Does not cover an outbreak situation• Questionable legal capability to cull infected poultry

20 shortcomings to 2007 - 2008 revision:• lack of clarity in to whom or to what the Law applies

• lack of specificity in defining which diseases are notifiable

• no definition of the responsibilities of the veterinary authority

• an inadequate definition of epidemic diseases of livestock

And enforcement is tricky, complex and lax…


A Big Bang

2001 - Radical and far-reaching decentralisation

• A key element in the 1998 IMF reform strategy• Essential to resolve regional and ethnic tensions

• Also cost-cutting - veterinary services an ‘easy target’• Now 33 provinces and 456 autonomous local

governments• The biggest single factor challenging the response to

HPAI…


Decentralisation


The HPAI Response

• Internationally led: FAO, WHO, UNICEF, UNOCHA• Interactions with regional, provincial and national

government (also NGOs and civil society)• KOMNAS FBPI - ministerial-level committee.• Also MoA, MoH• Donors: USAID, AUSAID, Dutch, Canadian, Japanese

governments mainly

• Challenges of co-ordination, cultures, priorities and trust

“The focus of the response is very, very scientific and this does not fit the local context well. The science is important but it is not a solution on its own.”


The challenges

• A numinous culture - Risk construction depends on ecological, social and political contexts


The challenges


• An emergent democracy - Assumption that an efficient bureaucracy does, can, or should exist


The challenges



• An emergent concept of public goods - Mismatch between the international community and the country


The challenges




• Complex politics and charged nationalism - Challenged national identity must lean on ‘otherness’ and conflict


The challenges




• Complex politics and charged nationalism - Challenged national identity must lean on ‘otherness’ and conflict

• Science and society - Scientific experts cannot prescribe and expect obedience


Conclusion

TrustSociety – government – business – international community – scientists


Next Steps?

• Context and history matter – one-size-fits-all approaches may need to adapted


Next Steps?


• Social relationships underpin everything – politics, business, science – and need to be the starting point for ways forward


Next Steps?


• Social relationships underpin everything – politics, business, science – and offer a starting point for ways forward

• Diverse perspectives and framings must be taken seriously and engaged with – deliberation and dialogue are required.


Acknowledgements


Serani Abeyesekera, FAO

Ronello Abila, OIE

Robyn Alders, FAO

D.A.K. Arifin, Majalengka

Warief Djajanto Basorie, LPDS

Edi Basuno, ICASEPS, Ministry of Agriculture

Glenn Bruce, Jakarta

Piers Cazalet, British Embassy

Ivo Claassen, Indonesian-Dutch HPAI Partnership

Suzanna Dayne, UNICEF

Lynleigh Evans, AusAID

Jonathan Gilman, FAO

Heru Hendratmoko, Alliance of Independent Journalists

Lisa Kramer, USAID

Bayu Krisnamurthi, KOMNAS FBPI

Stacie Lawson, FAO

Steve Leenhouts, FAO

Ignacio Leon-Garcia, OCHA

Jeffrey Mariner, ILRIJames McGrane, FAO François Meslin, WHO

Soedjasmiran Prodjodihardjo, FAO

Iqbal Rafani, ICASEPS, Ministry of Agriculture

Gina Samaan, WHO

Heru Setijanto, KOMNAS FBPI/Bogor Institute for Agriculture

Elly Sawitri Siregar, HPAI Campaign Management Unit, Ministry of Agriculture

Jeffrey Straka, CBAIC

Graham Tallis, WHO

Ron Thornton, FAO

Elisa Wagner, US Foreign Agriculture Service

Emma Watkins, FAO

P. Bimo Wicaksana, USDA

Iwan Willyanto, FAO

Mary Young, FAO

Irsyad Zamjani, CENAS (Centre for Asian Studies)

Anderson, B. R. O’G. (2006) Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia, Jakarta: Equinox

Elson, R. E. (2008) The Idea of Indonesia: A History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Padawati, S. and Nichter, M. (2008) ‘Community response to avian flu in Central Java, Indonesia’, Anthropology & Medicine, 15(1):31-51

Sumiarto B. and Arifin B. (2008) ‘Overview on Poultry Sector and HPAI Situation for Indonesia with Special Emphasis on the Island of Java’, Background Paper Africa/Indonesia Team Working Paper No. 3 available at http://www.research4development.info/PDF/Outputs/HPAI/wp03_IFPRI.pdf (accessed 12 December 2008)

References are available in the Powerpoint notes


Further reading

the political economy of avian influenza: indonesia by paul forster

Education

economic stabilisationjuly

avian influenza situation

significant economic

layer birds

live poultry marketsjakarta

pathogenic avian influenzawho

orgpower politics today1998

number of backyard birds