Household Level Analysis of Poverty and Gender Dynamics in Timor-Leste by Market Development Facility

Household Level Analysis of Poverty and Gender Dynamics in Timor Leste Market Development Facility â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Timor-Leste

October 2014

Australian aid â&#x20AC;&#x201C; managed by Cardno on behalf of the Australian Government

Table of Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. 5 Design and Limitations ......................................................................................................................... 6 Research Team ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Research Design ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Tool used for Primary Research .............................................................................................................. 8 Sampling Strategy ................................................................................................................................... 8 Limitations ............................................................................................................................................ 10 PART ONE: POVERTY..................................................................................................................... 12 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 12 Quantitative Assessments of Poverty in Timor-Leste ...................................................................................................... 12 Recalculation of the Poverty Line ............................................................................................................................................. 14 Non-Income Indicators and PPI ................................................................................................................................................. 15 Progress Out of Poverty Index .................................................................................................................................................... 16

Findings ................................................................................................................................................. 17 Who Is Poor in Timor-Leste?....................................................................................................................................................... 17 What keeps Farmers in Poverty? .............................................................................................................................................. 22

Conclusions / Opportunities for MDF Strategy..................................................................................... 34 Limitations beyond the Scope of MDF – Potential for Synergies ................................................................................ 36

PART TWO: WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ......................................................... 38 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 38 Background Research ..................................................................................................................................................................... 38

Framework for Women’s Economic Empowerment ............................................................................. 40 Findings ................................................................................................................................................. 40 Economic Advancement – Increased Income ...................................................................................................................... 41 Access to Opportunities and Life Chances ............................................................................................................................ 42 Access to Assets................................................................................................................................................................................. 43 Control over Income and Decision-Making .......................................................................................................................... 44 Women’s Workload ......................................................................................................................................................................... 45

Opportunities for MDF.......................................................................................................................... 47 Limitations beyond the Scope of MDF – Potential for Partnership ............................................................................ 48

Annex 1: Household Narratives ......................................................................................................... 51 Annex 2: Timor-Leste Progress out of Poverty Index Scorecard ................................................. 168

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List of Tables Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5 Table 6 Table 7 Table 8 Table 9 Table 10 Table 11 Table 12 Table 13 Table 14 Table 15 Table 16 Table 17

Research Districts, Sucos, and Crops .................................................................................................... 9 Households Interviewed across Three Regions................................................................................... 10 HIES 2011 – Mean and Median Incomes in Timor-Leste .................................................................. 13 Comparing poverty measures .............................................................................................................. 14 Value of Home-grown Food for Consumption ................................................................................... 14 Value of Livestock to Household per Capita Income ......................................................................... 15 Minimum and Maximum PPI Scores by District ................................................................................ 17 Estimated average poverty rate for Sample group of 28 ..................................................................... 17 Per Capita Income in 28 households interviewed (Including consumption of home-grown food) ..... 19 Poverty and Contributing Factors ....................................................................................................... 21 Land Size and Income ......................................................................................................................... 22 Number of households Purchasing Inputs by District ......................................................................... 23 Average Value of Crops Sold by District ............................................................................................ 25 Constraints and Solutions to Pathways out of Poverty ........................................................................ 35 Access to ICTs .................................................................................................................................... 37 Sectoral Analysis Using the WEE Framework ................................................................................... 47 Opportunity Analysis Using the WEE Framework ............................................................................. 48

List of Boxes Box 1 Box 2 Box 3 Box 4 Box 5 Box 6 Box 7 Box 8 Box 9 Box 10 Box 11 Box 12 Box 13 Box 14 Box 15 Box 16 Box 17 Box 18 Box 19 Box 20

Why is self-estimating income difficult? ............................................................................................ 11 Household with many dependents – Central #14 ................................................................................ 15 Farm labour household – East #22 ...................................................................................................... 16 Vulnerability of farming households – West #7 ................................................................................. 20 Chronically poor household – Central #13 ......................................................................................... 20 Certified coffee: from niche to mainstream ........................................................................................ 26 Snapshot of a coffee growing household – West #3 ........................................................................... 27 Snapshot of a vegetable growing household – Central #16 ................................................................ 29 Snapshot of a rice growing household – East #26............................................................................... 32 Snapshot of a Mixed Cropping Household income earning from multiple crops – West #4 .............. 33 Snapshot of Livestock Rearing Household value of livestock production and sales – East #23......... 34 Pro-Active Women in Timor-Leste – Legacy of resistance ................................................................ 39 Young women leaders and Agricultural Innovation – Central Region Suco Asumao District Aleiu – FGD #4 ............................................................................................................................................... 40 WEE Framework................................................................................................................................. 40 Women and Formal Business.............................................................................................................. 41 Complementary roles of women and men in agriculture – Central Region Suco Asumao District Aleiu – FGD #4............................................................................................................................................. 42 Access to Opportunities: Fatu Keru in Emera District, West Region – FGD #1 ................................ 43 Household decision making – Central Region Suco Liurai in Alieu District – FGD #3 ..................... 45 Snapshot of Men and women’s roles – West #6 ................................................................................. 46 Women’s Workload – Umboa Suco, Ermera District – FGD #2 ........................................................ 47

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Abbreviations and Acronyms ASEAN BNCTL BNPL DFAT FGD ha HIES ICM ICT INFUSE kg l MAF MDF MTCI NA NCBA / CCT NCBA / CLUSA NGO NPL NR PNDS PPI TLPYN UN UNICEF USAID USD WEE

Association of South East Asian Nations Banco Nacional De Commercio De Timor Leste Basic Needs Poverty Line Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australian Government) Focus Group Discussion Hectare Household Income and Expenditure Survey Information and Communication Technology Inclusive Finance for Underserved Economy Kilogram Litre Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Market Development Facility Not applicable National Cooperative Business Association / Café Cooperativa Timor National Cooperative Business Association / Cooperative League of the US Non-Governmental Organisation National Poverty Line No response National Program for Village Development Progress out of Poverty Index Timor-Leste Poverty in a Young Nation United Nations United Nations Children’s Fund United States of America Agency for International Development US Dollar Women’s Economic Empowerment

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This study paper was written by Linda Jones with inputs from MDF Timor-Leste country team

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Executive Summary Poverty and gender are complex multi-dimensional phenomena which, to be properly understood, go beyond quantitative measures to look at quality of life and opportunities to advance out of poverty. This is no less true for Timor-Leste for which we have taken a nuanced qualitative perspective to assess poor households and women in those households. In this study, we specifically examine the situation of smallholder farming households to determine who is poor and how they can advance out of poverty through agricultural development. MDF conducted both primary and secondary research for this study. Primary research was designed to build upon existing secondary research and statistics and to delve deeper into the qualitative aspects of poverty and vulnerability, how households manage their economic activities and income, the reasons behind perpetual poverty and vulnerability, and solutions for a pathway out of poverty for both women and men. The main research questions posed are as follows:        

Who is poor? What makes (and keeps) households poor? What are pathways out of poverty? What are barriers? Are there outliers – what is different about them? What activities / types of partners would help address this? What level of control do women have in the household– and why? What aspects of women’s economic empowerment can MDF address? How could MDF reach women better?

Of the total 184,652 households in Timor-Leste, 136,929 are rural, and half of these are considered poor – that is 68,465 households.1 The MDF Sector Assessment for Agribusiness, Processing and Rural Distribution notes that ‘the majority of these [rural] households … 63%, are dependent on agriculture, with some estimates putting agriculture dependency even as high as 75%.’2 So, if we assume that most of the 68,465 poor rural households are dependent on agriculture, then close to 60% of farming households are living below the basic needs poverty line (according to 2011 calculations). What is interesting about this calculation is that over 40% of farming households are not living below the poverty line. However, when we examined income distribution it suggests a strong clustering close to the poverty line,3 indicating that those smallholder farming households that are not poor, are vulnerable to poverty that can be precipitated by a range of events such as illness or death in the family, unfavourable weather patterns or unexpected expenses from the social to the practical. Our research suggests that poverty is greatest in agricultural households that have a combination of factors that contribute to poverty. That is, no one factor alone makes a household poor, but combined they do begin to provide a picture. For example, factors such as land size, distance to market and cost of getting goods to market cannot be taken as single determinants of poverty but appear to be contributing factors: for example, two of the three poorest households in our sample have a landholding that is average in size. Yet, the poorest household is relatively distant from market

National Statistics Directorate General Directorate for Analysis and Research Ministry of Finance Timor-Leste (2012) Timor-Leste Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2011. P.24 2 MDF Ag Sector Assessment Report (no page numbers) reporting on the World Bank, Boosting agriculture exports in Timor-Leste to reduce poverty, 2010. 3 National Statistics Directorate General Directorate for Analysis and Research Ministry of Finance Timor-Leste (2012) Timor-Leste Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2011. P.26. 1

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and has high transportation costs – as well as ten family members. Households with diversified farm related and non-farming incomes are most likely to be above the basic needs poverty line. For almost all households, productivity in Timor-Leste is below world averages, and we repeatedly heard about lack of access to inputs, the need for new knowledge and techniques, constraints of farming on rain-fed land, and the challenges of selling for various reasons. Therefore, improved agricultural knowledge, practices and technologies, along with beneficial market linkages, will help most households to increase incomes and reduce poverty or vulnerability to poverty. In this document, we discuss the constraints in more detail and suggest the opportunities that are especially relevant for poorer households with implications for the design and implementation of MDF interventions. In the case of women’s economic empowerment, our field research did not always corroborate the secondary sources and conventional wisdom on women in Timor-Leste. Although the background information presents a rather bleak picture, we were able to update it with women’s views today and the opportunities open to them. All cultures are dynamic, and Timor-Leste is a society in rapid change – in 2012, 4 over half the population had access to mobile phones, male and female youth literacy rates had climbed to over 80% and 78% respectively,5 and oil income has led to some improvements in infrastructure such as roads and electricity (although procurement issues have sometimes hampered these projects).6 We also note that the rural household functions as an economic unit, money from productive activities is pooled, and that much of the financial decision making is jointly made between the male and female heads of the household. This does not mean that women do not have specific challenges related to their roles and responsibilities – particularly workload in the household sphere as discussed below. But, it does mean that by applying a women’s economic empowerment framework, the MDF program can advance women economically, reduce their workload, and promote their position within the household and the economy. Through qualitative research, this report illustrates the poverty levels of agricultural households in Timor-Leste and describes the opportunities that can be leveraged to improve the situation for poorer households. Drawing on this information, MDF will be able to adapt programming to ensure that economic growth is inclusive of poor women and men.

Design and Limitations This section describes the research team, research design, primary research tools, sampling strategy and selection, and limitations of the research.

Research Team Research, both primary and secondary, was conducted in-house by MDF with support of an international consultant. The research team consisted of:      

Antonio Gusmao, Business Advisor (Timor-Leste) Deanna Salpietra, Results Measurement and Communications Manager Inacia Santos, Business Advisor (Timor-Leste) Linda Jones, Independent International Consultant Mujaddid, Mohsin, Timor-Leste Country Representative Mitch Adams, MDF Project Manager

UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/Timorleste_statistics.html UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/Timorleste_statistics.html 6 Index Mundi http://www.indexmundi.com/timor-leste/economy_profile.html 4 5

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 

Ritesh Prasad, Results Measurement Specialist (Fiji) Syeda Samira Saif, Market Development and Results Measurement Specialist (Timor-Leste)

The research team was also assisted in its field research by three local translators.

Research Design MDF conducted both primary and secondary research for this study. Primary research was designed to build upon existing secondary research and statistics and to delve deeper into the qualitative aspects of poverty and vulnerability, including how households manage their economic activities and income, the reasons behind perpetual poverty and vulnerability, and solutions for a pathway out of poverty. The main research questions posed are as follows:        

Out of these main questions more detailed themes were developed for the primary field research conducted by the MDF team. These included: 

Overall household information and level of well-being ˗ Household size ˗ Poverty indicators using Progress out of Poverty Index ˗ Aspirations for children



Sources of income and income derived from each ˗ All types of income for the household ˗ Detail of farming activities, yields, sales and income ˗ Access to jobs ˗ Other sources of income and how they are managed ˗ Opportunities to increase income



Division of labour between men and women ˗ Regarding both economic and household activities ˗ Activities women can and can’t be involved in (for household or socio-cultural reasons)



Assets and decision making over assets ˗ Type of assets owned by the household ˗ Decision-maker on the purchase of those assets



Expenditure patterns and decision making ˗ Most important expenditures for the household ˗ How the household manages and makes decisions to meet necessary expenditures



Gender control over funds and decision making ˗ Who controls household income and makes decisions over expenditure ˗ Who controls how women spend their time within and outside of the household ˗ What opportunities exist to increase women’s economic role

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Tool used for Primary Research MDF developed an interview guide based around these themes and gaps in secondary research. The research tool was a semi-structured interview which consisted of open-ended interview questions with a few closed questions. The interview tool was based around the above themes and had detailed questions to be used as a guide for the interviewers to collect all relevant information, but still allowing for new ideas or areas of discussions to go further based on the response of the interviewee. Responses from the interviews were then collated into table summaries with narratives around each theme, providing details given by the household, indicators collected (net income, number of household members, yields, etc.), as well as interviewer observations. These were then used in the analysis, which was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The narrative summaries of each household can be found in Annex 1. All members of the field team were trained and familiarised with the interview guide before the field research began. All interviews were conducted in the local language and dialect, and sections of the interview guides were translated into Tetum in advance to assist with verbal translation. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also held with women in Western and Central regions to provide additional information on gender. Focus group discussions were based around themes identified from the household interviews conducted by MDF. The FGDs were designed to dig deeper into specific topics identified from the household interviews and covered topics such as women’s contribution to household income including vegetable production, livestock, marketing, and handicrafts. The FGDs also explored women’s control of income, contributions to financial decision making, and their needs / preferences which may be addressed by MDF’s partnerships – for example, as will be discussed in further detail below, women are keen to have more efficient market linkages including contract farming opportunities.

Sampling Strategy MDF’s field research was with a small and targeted sample group. A relatively small sample was chosen in order to go more in-depth in interviews; however the sampling strategy was designed to get a wide cross-section of households in terms of locations, crops and income levels. MDF aimed to interview 30 households in six districts. In total due to time and travel constraints, 28 households were interviewed across the six regions. Households were to be selected based on a quota system per district and the main crop types grown by the household. The main crop types targeted were: (1) coffee; (2) rice; (3) maize; and (4) vegetables. Based on the geographic distribution of where these crops are typically grown, two districts were selected for each geographic area (East, Central and West). Five households were to be interviewed per district, focused around two sucos within each District as a starting point. The sucos were selected per district based on where the major crops are grown – using information from United Nations Population Fund7 on the number of households growing each crop in each sub-district, and using MDF team knowledge and observation. The aim was to get at least two households (in some cases three) in the same area growing the same crops, with at least one which is relatively well off and one which is more poor. This would allow a comparison between households growing similar crops in similar locations – to understand the differences between household that are less well-off and those that are better off. The sampling strategy was also designed in a way to interview seven to eight households across different parts of the country growing the same crop types. Although most households grow a Source: National Statistics Directorate, United Nations Population Fund: Population and Housing Census 2010, Suco Report, Volume 4; 2010. 7

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variety of different crops, selection and categorisation for sampling purposes was to be based on the major crop type grown; while at the same time cultivation practice, income and sales was to be collected on all crop types. That way, comparisons across districts and sucos can also be made between farmers of one crop in one area with farmers of the same crop in another. The districts and sucos initially targeted, with the major crops types grown in each area are in the table below. Once in the field MDF used the target sucos as a starting point to selecting households. The research team talked to the chief of villages that were visited to get a sense of the general well-being / poverty of the suco and to help in the selection of households. Interviews with the chief were also used to understand the economic opportunities from the point of view of a local person with authority and perhaps greater knowledge. Households were then individually selected at the discretion of the field teams, through initial introductory questions on what crops types were grown and observation on the level of well-being. Because MDF was attempting to target households which were likely to be poor and those less poor, the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) was sometimes used as a screening tool when necessary to determine whether an interview would continue, or the team would seek out a new household for that area. Table 1

Research Districts, Sucos, and Crops Area

Central

District Aileu

Ainaro

East

Viqueque

Crop Types Targeted

Sucos Targeted

Coffee Vegetables

Malere

Coffee Vegetables

Maubisse

Maize Rice

Bahalarauain

Seloi Kraik

Mulo, Hatu-Builico

Macadique Baucau

West

Bobonaro

Ermera

Maize Rice

Bahamori

Maize Rice

Palaca

Coffee Vegetables

Ponilala

Triloka

Ritabou

Haupu, Letefoho

Based on the actual cropping patterns of household, it was not easy to select a household based on just one major crop type. Most households grow multiple crop types, and the level of intensity, selfsufficiency and income derived from each crop is only evident after in-depth questioning. Thus the households interviewed do not fall neatly into a category of ‘coffee’ or ‘vegetables’. Nonetheless, MDF was able to interview 28 households across the six districts with multiple households growing each crop type (in combination with others); with a combination of higher income and lower income households. All responses were ensured as confidential, therefore names and exact locations are excluded from this report. Below is a Table showing actual households interviewed.

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Table 2

Households Interviewed across Three Regions Area

Central

District Aileu

Ainaro

East

Viqueque

Baucau

West

Bobonaro

Ermera

Crop Types Grown

Households Interviewed

Suco

Coffee Vegetables Rice Maize

Malere

#11

Seloi Kraik

#12, #16, #18

Coffee Vegetables Maize Legumes

Maubisse

#13, #15

Mulo

#14

Mulo

#17

Maize Rice Vegetables Tree Crops Legumes Root crops

Bahalarauain

#24

Luca

#25

Macadique

#22

Macadique

#23

Maize Rice Vegetables Tree crops Root crops

Gariuai

#28

Triloka

#19, #20

Bado-Ho’o

#21

Bucoli

#26, #27

Sanirin

#10

Rai Fun

Manapa

Balibo

#8, #9

Ponilala

#1, #2, #3

Haupu, Letefoho

Malabe

Maize Rice Vegetables Legumes

Coffee Vegetables Root crops

Following the household interviews, MDF also conducted four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with a total of about 40 women to supplement and dig deeper into specific topics as indicated above. The FGDs with women were held in Alieu district in Central region and Emera district in West region. In each district, one FGD was held with women who live close to a market centre and another with a group who lived in a more remote area and would have reduced access to services due to distance, time and cost. As with the interviews, MDF staff consulted with suco chiefs about the FGD participants who were to be from poorer households, and the wife of the suco chief organised a location and was available to help with setting up the FGDs.

Limitations The research was not without limitations, which are described below: 



The small sample size used is not statistically representative. However, this was not meant to be the purpose of the field research. The purpose of the field research was to go in depth through qualitative interviews to compliment the secondary statistics. Therefore information in this report as it was gathered by MDF in the field is not statistically representative of the wider rural population in Timor-Leste, however it is indicative of the situation of rural farming households. Questions related to gender roles and controls can in some contexts be sensitive questions. All efforts were made by the research teams to make respondents feel comfortable and to ensure

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

privacy. Men and women were separated for specific questions on men’s and women’s activities and interviews were conducted by interviewers of the same gender. To understand who is poor and why does require some quantitative information on income, farm yields and sales, which were collected in addition to the qualitative information collected. Collecting data on income and expenditure is difficult. None of the households interviewed keep records and rely on memory to answer the questions. While in the rural districts, most families were forthcoming in sharing information. Sometimes hypothetical or best case scenarios are given as answers; whereas sometimes information can be underestimated or hidden because of the interviewee’s uncertainty of its use. The following box describes other difficulties in estimating income in Timor-Leste. To overcome this limitation, MDF did use other qualitative measures to assess poverty, for example the Progress out of Poverty Index and questions relating to self-sufficiency in farming and food intake, to complement the quantitative information collected on income and farm yields. Crop yields to measure farm productivity as mentioned above, is also an important factor in understanding why rural households are poor or vulnerable. However, similar to sales and income, reliable and consistent information on productivity or yields are difficult to collect. This is a result of a few reasons. Households do not keep records on this information and rely on memory. Yields fluctuate from year to year and while some crops are harvested once yearly (such as coffee) other crops such as vegetables are often planted and harvested on a continuous basis, making it difficult for the respondent to give exact figures in terms of yield. In addition, many crops are harvested and used as needed for home consumption, while at the same time harvested at regular intervals for sales, making it difficult to estimate total seasonal yield of a crop. Furthermore, units used across households and areas differ – with some using tins, bags or bundles – all with varying degrees of weight making comparisons difficult. It was therefore difficult to collect reliable yield information on all crops across all households. Crops harvested regularly or cash crops for sale in consistent units to regular buyers such as coffee and rice provided more reliable yield information; whereas for vegetables, maize, legumes and root-crops the information collected is not likely to represent total yield. For these reasons, in this study MDF mainly compares income derived from agriculture for its analysis across household. On a case-by-case basis, in follow-on analysis of the data collected at the household level, MDF was able to make a determination of whether a household had low or high productivity for certain crops, depending on the information the fields teams were able to collect.

It is well known that assessing income based on memory of informants is error prone. The following box describes the difficulty of estimating income in Timor-Leste. In order to overcome this issue, we triangulated information, and only draw general qualitative conclusions from our research. Box 1

Why is self-estimating income difficult?

A large number of the local population’s inability to provide better estimates of income or expenditures is because they are subsistence or near-subsistence farmers without any regular cash incomes or expenditures. Farmers’ incomes vary greatly from one season to another, depending on the crops produced and the weather. People appear to spend what they have without much consideration for next year or the coming months. Many farmers interviewed coped with the shortage of food and / or income by selling what they had in time of need. It appeared that the seasonality of harvests, the irregularity of their sales, and unplanned spending make it difficult for the farmers, who have no or very little education, to calculate and provide information on their approximate monthly or annual incomes or expenditures. In the MDF research, it was further revealed that only one of the 28 households created budgets and tracked its expenditures to manage cash flow. This lack of record-keeping would make it difficult for households to accurately report on financial questions.

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PART ONE: POVERTY Introduction Poverty is a complex multi-dimensional phenomenon which, to be properly understood, goes beyond quantitative measures to look at quality of life and opportunities to advance out of poverty. This is no less true for Timor-Leste, and as such we have taken a nuanced perspective to assess poor households. However, quantitative reports and statistics are still important to this study in so much as they provide benchmarks against which our findings can be compared. In this study, we specifically examine the situation of smallholder farming households to determine who is poor and how they can advance out of poverty through agricultural development. In the following sections, we report on various poverty assessments, the metrics that we are using to assess poverty, levels of poverty amongst smallholder households across West, Central and East region, and agricultural sector solutions that can be tailored to the needs of the poor. Women’s economic empowerment is reviewed in detail in its own section following the poverty section, although information on gender is included in this section on poverty where appropriate.

Quantitative Assessments of Poverty in Timor-Leste In this section, we review poverty assessments from secondary sources that have already been carried out. This brief overview lays the foundation for our findings, provides a basis for understanding who are the poor among agricultural households in Timor-Leste, and underpins our choice of metrics. This information is then used as a springboard for this qualitative study, allowing us to go beyond numbers and learn more about the subtleties of poverty and gender in agricultural households. References are provided if additional information from these quantitative studies is required. The Timor-Leste: Poverty in a Young Nation (TLPYN) report (with data collected during 2007)8 assesses poverty according to consumption. At that time, TLPYN found that about half of TimorLeste’s population was living in poverty, with less than $0.88 per capita per day (national poverty line – NPL) available for consumption (food and non-food). Furthermore about one third of the population were found to be living in extreme poverty with less than $0.71 for consumption. TLPYN indicates that poverty increased significantly from 2000–2007, although we shall see from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) of 2011 which we turn to next that poverty levels have decreased since 2007. 9 The 2011 HIES assesses who is poor using both expenditure and income calculations.10 Based on 2011 expenditure rates, HIES calculated that about 37% of people in Timor-Leste overall were living below the basic needs poverty line (BNPL) with much higher rates of poverty in rural than in urban areas.11 Per capita median expenditure levels were $34.20 for the nation, $58.42 for urban areas and $29.95 for rural Timor-Leste. At the time of publication, the HIES indicated that according to $1 a day BNPL

WB/Directorate of National Statistics (2008) Timor-Leste Poverty in a Young Nation (data from 2007) ‘Obtaining 2009-2010 household-level poverty status predictions by applying the estimated probit equation to DHS 2009-2010 produces a point estimate of national poverty prevalence at 41% with the 95% confidence interval bounded by 39.4% and 42.5% respectively (Table 2) . Given that most of the households in DHS 2009-10 were interviewed between August-December 2009 and that the entire fieldwork had been completed by February 7, 2010, the estimates above are considered valid for the year 2009.’ From A 2009 Update of Poverty Incidence in TimorLeste using the Survey-to-Survey Imputation Method. 10 National Statistics Directorate General Directorate for Analysis and Research Ministry of Finance Timor-Leste (2012) Timor-Leste Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2011. 11 National Statistics Directorate General Directorate for Analysis and Research Ministry of Finance Timor-Leste (2012) Timor-Leste Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2011. P.24 8 9

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expenditure, that at least half of the rural population were poor.12 13 The higher number of people living in rural areas means that the overall national poverty rate is 37% despite higher incomes in urban centres. In terms of income, the following table shows mean and median incomes per household and per capita drawing from the Timor-Lese HIES of 2011.14 15 Based on the HIES BNPL of $1 or even the currently used international absolute poverty measure of $1.25, we observe that the median per capita monthly rural income was below the poverty line in 2011, also placing over half of the rural population below the Timor-Leste basic needs poverty line. Table 3

HIES 2011 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mean and Median Incomes in Timor-Leste Indicator

Urban USD

Rural USD

Number of households surveyed

Urban and Rural USD 4800 = 1 / 40 across Timor-Leste

Mean Monthly household Income

$634

$292

$378

Mean Monthly Per Capita Income

$93

$50

$62

Median Monthly Per Capita Income

$64

$32

$40

Mean Monthly household Expenditure

$532

$219

$297

Mean Monthly Per Capita Expenditure

$78

$38

$49

Median Monthly Per Capita Expenditure

$58

$30

$34

More recently, although the UN ESCAP 2013 reports on poverty in Timor-Leste, it does not rank according to the $1.25 absolute poverty line used in much of that document, but reports on the 2007 TLPYN data, indicating that almost 50% of the total population lives below the national poverty line (NPL).16 This therefore does not provide any additional information.17 In the 2013 United Nations Human Development Report, Timor-Leste was ranked 134 out of 172 countries and 137th with the inequality adjustment applied across dimensions (although unranked on gender equality due to a lack of information). Ranking in the 130s, according to the UN, puts TimorLeste at a medium level of Human Development.18 This is up from 158th in 200219 which placed it in the low level of Human Development. However, as we see from the box below, the method of measurement is generalised and does not provide useful information for calculating poverty in TimorLeste for the purpose of MDFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pro-poor sector development. The next table summarises the four poverty measurements discussed here, indicating the year of the study, the approach, the poverty level used and the percentage living in poverty according to this approach and level.

National Statistics Directorate General Directorate for Analysis and Research Ministry of Finance Timor-Leste (2012) Timor-Leste Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2011. P.24 13 For our study, the household numbers may be relevant at with median household expenditures at $ 203.50 for the nation, $ 413.17 for urban areas and $ 177.75 for rural. 14 National Statistics Directorate General Directorate for Analysis and Research Ministry of Finance Timor-Leste (2012) Timor-Leste Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2011 15 Value of owned homes is included in income and expenditure calculation sand this can be as high as $110/month in urban areas; higher expenditure than income could be explained by traditional savings, or build-up of assets- not clear. Home-grown food is also part of income and expenditure and can be over 30% of income and expenditure in rural areas although the median level for rural is about 17%. 16 UNESCAP (2013) Statistics Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2013. P. 115. 17 The table shows a two-fold difference between urban and rural expenditures and incomes (mean and median). It might be interesting to do an urban poverty study or an urban poverty update at some point to more fully understand this disparity. 18 UNDP (2013) Human Development Report â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World. New York: UNDP. 19 Sida (2005) Poverty and Development in Timor-Leste. P.9 12

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Table 4

Comparing poverty measures

Study

Year of study

Approach

Poverty level used

% living in poverty overall

TLPYN

2007

Consumption

$0.88 (national poverty line)

~50%

HIES

2011

Income and Expenditure

$1.00 (basic needs poverty line)

37%

UNESCAP

2013

Uses TLPYN data (Consumption)

$0.88 (national poverty line)

~50%

United Nations Human Development Report

2013

Human development index

134 / 172 country ranking

---

Recalculation of the Poverty Line Changes since 2011 might warrant a recalculation of the poverty line. Index Mundi estimates the inflation rates in 2011 and 2012 to be 13.5% and 11.8% respectively. And, although the economy has grown at a rate of 10% per year over the last several years much of this was on the strength of its oilwealth,20 and so does not reach smallholder farmers. Further, there is unequal growth in Timor-Leste with the lowest 10% only accounting for 4% of income / expenditure in 2007 and the highest 10% of the population enjoying 27%.21 Given the over 10% inflation rate per year, and the three years that have elapsed since the HIES poverty analysis began, we can assume that many of the farmers who were just above the poverty line, might now be below it. However, formally recalculating a poverty line is a long and complicated process beyond the scope of this study as it requires a recalculation of the basket of goods to allow for local consumption, and then the determination of prices, many of which would need to be seasonally adjusted. Therefore, in our analyses we will show households that are below $1.00 per day per person (in keeping with the HIES poverty line of 2011) and which ones are below $1.25 per day per person which aligns with current international measurements for absolute poverty.22 As with the 2011 HIES income calculations, we take into account that rural poverty is somewhat mitigated by widespread home and land ownership (if very small) and use of home-grown food. In our study we use standardised numbers derived from the information that we collected estimating income and expenditure of home-grown foods as follows: Table 5

Value of Home-grown Food for Consumption Level of Production for Consumption

Estimate Value of Home-grown Food per Month applied to Income and Expenditure

No or very little staple crops

Some staple crops

$17

Roughly half of staple crops

$25

A significant proportion of staple crops

$38

All or nearly all of staple crops

$50

Index Mundi Viewed February 20 2014 at http://www.indexmundi.com/timor-leste/economy_profile.html Although estimates vary, the 11.8% in 2012 has also been reported by the World Bank at http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/timor-leste 21 Index Mundi Viewed February 20 2014 at http://www.indexmundi.com/timor-leste/economy_profile.html 22 The $1.25 is based on a calibration with USD purchasing power. Although Timor-Leste uses the USD, prices in rural areas for food and rent may be somewhat lower, so while this is not a perfect calculation, it is the line which makes sense given the information with have at hand. 20

14 | Market Development Facility

We did not calculate the equivalent rental value of owned property. Most rural households have access to land and a house, and information was not available to make this calculation. However, given that rents would likely be very low in rural areas, we do not believe that this skews our results. Finally, understanding vulnerability in addition to poverty will be useful for MDF’s agricultural interventions. ‘Vulnerability is the risk that a household will, if currently non-poor, fall below the poverty line, or if currently poor, will remain in poverty or fall deeper into poverty. Thus, vulnerability is synonymous with a high probability of becoming poor or poorer in the future.’23 In order to capture this group, we also include the international poverty line of $2.50 in our analyses to illustrate who is vulnerable to slipping into poverty – through, for example, loss of a salary, illness or death in the family, a poor harvest, change in international prices, and so on.

Non-Income Indicators and PPI The HIES discussed the value of assessing non-income indicators when determining a household’s level of poverty. 24 We incorporated such indicators when preparing our interview guides and focus group discussions, providing us with a rich picture of each household’s poverty profile: number of household members, level of education of male and female heads of household, education levels, number of children, land size, condition of the house and assets. Some households that appear to be better off, are in fact poorer due to such considerations as large family size as shown below. Box 2

Household with many dependents – Central #14

Central #14 has an annual net income from all sources (farming, remittances, pension, and scholarship) of $1708. The net cash income is reduced by transportation costs and the distance to market which would otherwise add $150 to the annual income. This is a femaleheaded household with children in school and a total of eight people dependent on the household income. They are able to supplement cash earnings with the production of some of their food. However, with production for consumption taken into consideration, this still results in a daily per capita income of just $0.68. If the household had fewer dependents, for example four in total, they would be above the absolute poverty line. And, if they lived closer to a market with reduced transportation expenses related to sale of crops, this would also increase their per capita net income. Finally, the household spoke of expenditures related to traditional ceremonies that cuts into their income and reduces their ability to save money. This household illustrates that poverty is not just based on income, but also on expenditures – related to other factors such as family size and traditional obligations.

An early Sida report interestingly indicates that a visible difference in terms of poverty is the number of livestock owned: ‘In all cases (buffaloes, cattle, horses, horses, goats and pigs), the numbers reported for 2001 were lower than for 1999 before the violence.’25 The following table, although only representative of our small sample, supports the contribution of livestock production and sales to household income. That is, households which regularly sell livestock as a source of income have higher annual per capita incomes than those who explicitly stated they do not (however lower than those which did not state either way), and those that indicate livestock sales are a regular source of income have higher per capita income than the median of the whole group of 28 households. Table 6

Value of Livestock to Household per Capita Income Livestock Sales

Unknown (n=12)

Average Per capita income

Average Revised per capita income

1.07

1.2

Jha, R. and Dang, T. (2008) Vulnerability and Poverty in Timor-Leste. Working Papers in Trade and Development. Working Paper 2008/11.Australian National University. P.8 24 I am going to be in touch with Jonathan Sibley as this makes no sense – if 219 USD is the mean monthly income overall then how can it go from $250 and up here and $300 and up in the next case. 25 Sida (2005) Poverty and Development in Timor-Leste. P.10 23

Market Development Facility | 15

Livestock Sales

Average Per capita income

Average Revised per capita income

No (n=2)

0.66

0.75

Yes (n=14)

0.85

1.03

Grand Total (n=28)

0.93

1.08

Median

0.66

0.87

Moreover, secondary sources report that the group with the highest rates of poverty and vulnerability is that which lives in households headed by farm labourers.26 However, they are likely farm labourers because they are resource poor (lack of land, lack of education) and may have no other options open to them: Box 3

Farm labour household – East #22

This household suffers from multiple aspects of poverty that cannot be easily overcome by a market development project. This is the poorest household of those interviewed in the East region with a net annual income of $602 and 11 people in the household. This means an annual per capita income of $73 and a daily one of $0.20. Household subsistence comes from sharecropping of rice, maize cultivation, sales of palm wine and cassava leaves, and a promised buffalo which is payment for the husband’s shepherding for three weeks every month (payment is one buffalo for two to three years of shepherding). The husband is largely absent, since he works as a shepherd, the wife must manage a large household of young children. They do cultivate rice – through a share cropping arrangement and therefore not on their own land – but with very low productivity at about 420 kg per ha prorated. Further, their own small landholding is sandy and not great for farming, so they harvested only 90 cobs of maize last season, and earned about $50 from the sale of cassava leaves. The wife is not able to go to the market due to the number of small children at home and an absentee husband. Their land and home is also flood prone and they have lost everything more than once in recent memory. They have applied for social transfers and were denied, and it is unclear if a market development intervention will be able to help them, given the family’s situation.

Progress Out of Poverty Index The Progress out of Poverty Index (or PPI) was used to assess households during the interviews and as part of our analytical process. The PPI is an indirect approach to assessing the level of poverty in a household or group of households developed by the Grameen Foundation. The PPI is expenditure based and uses indicators which have proven strongly correlated with poverty in Timor-Leste. For Timor-Leste, the PPI was developed using the 2007 Timor-Leste Standard of Living Survey data. It is designed as tool of 10 simple questions that assess indicators which together indicate the likelihood of poverty of a given household. The PPI for Timor-Leste can be found in Annex 2. More information on the PPI can be found at http://www.progressoutofpoverty.org/. MDF incorporated the PPI questions into its interviews across all 28 households. The answers to the questions provide a PPI score for each household – which was then used to determine the poverty likelihood of the household, in other words the probability that the household is below a given poverty line. The PPI tool for Timor-Leste allows the likelihood to be given for seven different poverty lines based on the PPI score (Lower National, Upper National, 150% Upper National, 200% Upper National, USAID ‘Extreme’, International $1,25, and International $2.50). MDF used the PPI as a part of this study in few different ways: firstly as a screening tool to identify households to include in the research – as it was aiming to include households with varying degrees of poverty likelihoods. Secondly to get a quick assessment of poverty likelihood to compare with actual income and expenditure data collected from the household. Thirdly the PPI was used to calculate the

Jha, R. and Dang, T. (2008) Vulnerability and Poverty in Timor-Leste. Working Papers in Trade and Development. Working Paper 2008/11.Australian National University. P.21. 26

16 | Market Development Facility

poverty rate of the group of respondents in the study (by calculating the average poverty likelihood for individual households). Based on experience, the research team felt it was most beneficial to estimate poverty rate of a group of respondents, rather than assessing poverty likelihood at the household level. Even so, it comes with a relatively high margin of error given the smaller sample size of only 28. Nonetheless it provides supplementary information on the indicative poverty rate of the group surveyed and the individual households which is useful to compare with other data collected as a part of this study. MDF used the PPI scores to add to and compare with its own measurements given the difficulties that can arise when collecting household income and expenditure. The following table illustrates the range of PPI scores by district and overall. Table 7

Minimum and Maximum PPI Scores by District

District

Maximum PPI Score

Minimum PPI Score

Aileu

Ainaro

Baucau

Bobonaro

Ermera

Viqueque

Total Max / Min

Based on the combined PPI scores of the sample of 28 households, estimates of the poverty rate for the sample against various different poverty levels can be determined. Table 8

Estimated average poverty rate for Sample group of 28 Poverty rate

Confidence Interval at 90% Confidence level

Poverty likelihood for $1.25 / day

25%

+ / â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13.0%

Poverty likelihood for $2.50 / day

71%

+ / â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13.3%

Poverty levels27

According to the PPI scores, 25% of our sample group is likely to be below the $1.25 per capita per day, while 71% are below the $2.50 per capita per day rate â&#x20AC;&#x201C; showing that one quarter of our sample is living in extreme poverty while nearly three quarters are vulnerable28.

Findings Who Is Poor in Timor-Leste? Although the following quote is taken from a 2005 document, when Timor-Leste was still in its very early stage of recovery from the end of Indonesian occupation and centuries of Portuguese

Given that the PPI was developed against the Timor-Leste Standard of Living Survey in 2007, the national poverty level given is $0.88/day rather than the revised $1.00/day from the 2011 HIES, so it has been excluded and figures given for the more relevant $1.25 and $2.50 poverty levels. 28 The poverty rate shows the likelihood of poverty of the households as a function of location, assets accumulated and income opportunities. The conclusions from the poverty rate differs from the per capita income calculations of households as this is a snapshot of income and expenditure from one year.

Market Development Facility | 17

colonisation, and the poverty lines used were different, the situation of extreme poverty is still similar today.29 ‘Poverty is by and large a rural phenomenon in Timor-Leste. While less than 25 percent of all urban households are poor the corresponding ﬁgure for rural areas is over 44 percent, and no fewer than six out of seven poor live in the countryside.’30 Of the total 184,652 households of Timor-Leste, 136,929 are rural, and about half of these are considered poor – that is 68,465 households.31 The MDF Sector Assessment for Agribusiness, Processing and Rural Distribution notes that ‘the majority of these [rural] households…63%, are dependent on agriculture, with some estimates putting agriculture dependency even as high as 75%.’32 So, if we assume that most of the 68,465 poor rural households are dependent on agriculture, then close to 60% of farming households are living below the basic needs poverty line of $1 / day (according to 2011 calculations). What is interesting about this calculation is that over 40% of farming households are not living below the $1 / day poverty line. However, if we examine the HIES histogram on income distribution (for all types of rural households including commercial farmers and those who derive income from other sources), it suggests a strong clustering close to the poverty line,33 which gives relevance to the vulnerability discussion above. That is, it is a well-known phenomenon that households that are near the poverty line, often fluctuate above and below the line depending on a variety of circumstances: for example, crop failures, social cash transfers, erratic government buy-back programs, social and traditional events such as funerals, weddings and bride price.34 Adding to the calculation that results in 40% of smallholder farmers not being poor are the findings of the 2012 special report to the UN on poverty in Timor-Leste, which suggests that the extent and depth of poverty is even more severe: ‘The extent and depth of poverty in Timor-Leste is even more severe than the income poverty statistics suggest. According to the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which identifies multiple deprivations in households with respect to education, health and standard of living, 68 per cent of the population in Timor-Leste suffer from multiple deprivations, and an additional 18 per cent are vulnerable. Food insecurity affects up to 70 per cent of households during the ‘lean season’ from December to February, and nutritional status of women and, in particular, children, 58 per cent of whom suffer from chronic malnutrition.’35 Vulnerability to poverty has also been reported by Jha and Dang who suggest that of the 67% of the population who live in households headed by farmers, 44% are poor and nearly 42% are vulnerable to poverty. In Timor-Leste as a whole, farming households account for 82% of the poor and 94.8% of the vulnerable.36

The quote is based on 2005 data using the poverty line of $0.55 per capita per day. Sida (2005) Poverty and Development in Timor-Leste. P.14 31 National Statistics Directorate General Directorate for Analysis and Research Ministry of Finance Timor-Leste (2012) Timor-Leste Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2011. P.24 32 MDF Ag Sector Assessment Report. (no page numbers) reporting on the World Bank, Boosting agriculture exports in Timor-Leste to reduce poverty, 2010. 33 National Statistics Directorate General Directorate for Analysis and Research Ministry of Finance Timor-Leste (2012) Timor-Leste Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2011. P.26. 34 Mujaddid Moshin, personal communication, February 19, 2014. 35 Carmona,M. (2012) Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. United Nations General Assembly, May 24, 2012. P.5. 36 Jha, R. and Dang, T. (2008) Vulnerability and Poverty in Timor-Leste. Working Papers in Trade and Development. Working Paper 2008/11.Australian National University. P.21. 29 30

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Of the households interviewed by MDF, only six were above $1.25 per day, and just one was above $2.50. That means 22 were below the basic needs poverty line, and all the rest but one are vulnerable to poverty. Note that although these are rural households and there is significant dependence on agriculture, it is not the sole means of support for each household. The daily per capita incomes below are based on all sources of household income, including salaries and wages, social transfers and home business sales (kiosk, baked goods, etc.). Income derived specifically from agriculture is covered in more detail in the next section. Table 9

Per Capita Income in 28 households interviewed (Including consumption of home-grown food) Household

Region

District

Daily Per Capita Income (USD)

West

Ermera

0.51

West

Ermera

5.38

West

Ermera

0.52

West

Ermera

1.06

West

Ermera

0.52

West

Bobonaro

0.64

West

Bobonaro

2.29

West

Bobonaro

2.36

West

Bobonaro

1.52

West

Bobonaro

0.84

Central

Aileu

0.77

Central

Aileu

0.38

Central

Ainaro

0.20

Central

Ainaro

0.68

Central

Ainaro

0.99

Central

Aileu

0.43

Central

Ainaro

0.17

Central

Aileu

0.57

East

Baucau

1.13

East

Baucau

1.27

East

Baucau

2.06

East

Viqueque

0.29

East

Viqueque

0.93

East

Viqueque

0.93

East

Viqueque

1.22

East

Baucau

1.22

East

Baucau

0.67

East

Baucau

0.90

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Box 4

Vulnerability of farming households – West #7

West #7 has access to .5 ha of land with six people in the household, but have high productivity and until recently a salaried job. The total annual net income was $4405 meaning an annual per capita income of $738 or $2 per day. Additionally, they plant rice and then vegetables, getting maximum usage out of their land – with a reported yield of 2400 kg rice from .5 ha (value $2400 but only half sold for $1220) and a comparable good yield for vegetables ($500 for the half hectare). The husband graduated from agricultural college so has good knowledge of inputs, farming techniques and cropping patterns. The wife transports the vegetables to market on foot and sells them. Recently, however, the project for which the husband worked closed and their income went down from $3600 to $805, reducing their annual per capita income to $134 or $0.37 per day. With no social security, this means that his family’s level of poverty will be extreme if the husband is unable to find similar work. This illustrates the vulnerability of household well-being as an accident, illness or income loss can happen unexpectedly with no social safety net to fall back on.

Chronically at risk households (extreme poor) can be identified by the fact that they are unable to store sufficient staple food for the lean season.37 Distress activities like eating less, or consuming different (and often less nutritious) foodstuffs, selling livestock, collecting and selling forest products, temporary migration for wage labour may be undertaken during the lean season.38 Our study found that many households will consume differently during the lean season, such as consuming cassava or maize instead of rice. Box 5

Chronically poor household – Central #13

Central #13 is illustrative of a chronically poor agricultural household in Timor-Leste. This household has a very small piece of land – estimated to be about .28 ha. At the same time, there are 12 people in the household. The net cash income is just $585, and even taking into consideration food that is grown for consumption, the annual per capita income is just $0.20 per day. Although this income may be underestimated, it was obvious from observation that this is an extremely poor household suffering from chronic hunger, and the interviewers noted that the mother and some of the children appeared sickly and malnourished. They seek help from neighbours and relatives, and during the lean season, the parents eat less to ensure children have something to eat.

Geographically, the TLPYN identified the East of Timor-Leste as the least poor, the Central the poorest, and the West somewhat less poor than Central districts: 39 This was confirmed by our observations of households in the three regions. Our per capita incomes did not match this, but that is not surprising given the small sample size and approach to selection. Our research suggests that poverty is greatest in agricultural households that have a combination of factors that contribute to poverty. That is, no one factor alone makes a household poor, but combined they do begin to provide a picture. The following table illustrates that in our sample, land size, distance to market and cost of getting goods to market cannot be taken as single determinants of poverty but appear to be contributing factors. For example, the poorest household (Central #17) is relatively distant from market and has high transportation costs – as well as ten family members. Other interesting correlations emerge (although our sample is too small to draw hard and fast conclusions). Using the revised per capita income: for those households below $1 / day the average land size is 1.5 ha and average travel time to market is 54 minutes. Households with total per capital income of more than $1 / day have on average 2.5 ha of land and travel 33 minutes to their market for sales. Although this example does not clarify questions around comparative productivity, it does show that

Da Costa et al (2013) Household Food insecurity in Timor-Leste in Food Security 5:83–94. UNWFP (2005) Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Assessment. P.50 39 ‘Obtaining 2009-2010 household-level poverty status predictions by applying the estimated probit equation to DHS 2009-2010 produces a point estimate of national poverty prevalence at 41% with the 95% confidence interval bounded by 39.4% and 42.5% respectively (Table 2) . Given that most of the households in DHS 2009-10 were interviewed between August-December 2009 and that the entire fieldwork had been completed by February 7, 2010, the estimates above are considered valid for the year 2009.’ From A 2009 Update of Poverty Incidence in TimorLeste using the Survey-to-Survey Imputation Method. 37 38

20 | Market Development Facility

households closer to markets, thus with more access to sales opportunities, do better than households with more difficult access to markets. Table 10 Poverty and Contributing Factors

Household

Region

District

Per Capita Income

Land Size (ha)

Distance to market (minutes)

Cost of goods to market

West

Ermera

0.51

0.14

$2 / bag

West

Ermera

5.38

No cost

West

Ermera

0.52

No cost

West

Ermera

1.06

2.5

No cost

West

Ermera

0.52

0.3

$1 / bag

West

Bobonaro

0.64

No cost

West

Bobonaro

2.29

0.5

$0.50 / bag

West

Bobonaro

2.36

No cost

West

Bobonaro

1.52

0.5

No cost

West

Bobonaro

0.84

0.5

Central

Aileu

0.77

No cost

Central

Aileu

0.38

0.3

No cost

Central

Ainaro

0.20

0.28

No cost

Central

Ainaro

0.68

$150 / one way

Central

Ainaro

0.99

1.5

$2 / bag

Central

Aileu

0.43

No cost

Central

Ainaro

0.17

10km

$2 / bag

Central

Aileu

0.57

0.25

5â&#x20AC;&#x201C;10km

No cost

East

Baucau

1.13

No response

East

Baucau

1.27

$0.25 / bag

East

Baucau

2.06

4.5

$1 / bag

East

Viqueque

0.29

1.5

0.5km

No cost

East

Viqueque

0.93

No cost otherwise $2 / bag if take to Dili on bus

East

Viqueque

0.93

No cost

East

Viqueque

1.22

1.5

No cost

East

Baucau

1.22

240

$2.80 / bag

East

Baucau

0.67

$50 / trip

East

Baucau

0.90

1.5

$1 / per person

Non-farming income at first glance appeared to be an indicator of reduced poverty. And, the average per capita income for households with less than 50% of their total income from agriculture is higher than those households with more than 50% total income from agriculture. (See discussion of multiple cropping and diversified incomes below in the crops section.) Yet, from our sampling, there is nothing that indicates that those with more or less reliance on agriculture for income are more likely to be poor; 6 out of 9 households with reliance on agriculture are below $1 / day while 12 out of 19 with less income from agriculture are also below $1 / day. Overall, our analysis indicates that poverty is multi-dimensional and that a number of factors combine to determine a household level of poverty. However, in the next section, we take a more nuanced look

Market Development Facility | 21

at agricultural production and poverty, and discuss how households can become less poor when agriculture is a significant part of their income. The following table illustrates that for agricultural incomes, the land size does not correlate to income. However, if households had greater knowledge and skills, and improved inputs, incomes per hectare could be higher. Table 11 Land Size and Income Size of Land

Average Income per ha (pro-rated)

0.14

$490

0.25

$488

0.28

0.3

$360

0.5

$272

$1,233

1.5

$256

$811

2.5

$2,942

$182

4.5

$1,732

$390

Overall Average

$718

What keeps Farmers in Poverty? Smallholder households operate as a single economic unit, and increases or decreases in income affect all members of the household. Women and men interviewees explained about their complementary contributions to income between and across agricultural sectors, their shared or differentiated financial decision-making, and the types of hardship or benefits that arise according to changes in fortune. This is covered in greater depth in the following section on women’s economic empowerment. MDF has done considerable primary and secondary research on why there is ongoing low production and low incomes among farming households. The primary factors that affect agricultural production and incomes are many and were summarised in the MDF Sector Assessment for Agribusiness, Processing and Rural Distribution Report. The following adapts and expands on the sector assessment findings and provides comments of particular relevance to poverty and gender: 



Access to knowledge, skills and information amongst male and female farmers has been generally observed to be low in Timor-Leste. Poorer households (e.g. East #22; women in Umboa Suco, Ermera District – FGD #2) seem particularly challenged – which begs the question, is this the cause of poverty or the result of poverty? More distant households have reduced access to products and services as they are further from services and market towns (as witnessed in Umboa Suco as compared to Fatu Keru in the same district). Further, agricultural extension services are limited, which hinders the dissemination of market information to farmers (including location of market opportunities and pricing). Similarly, there is constrained access to a range of inputs including seeds and agrichemicals such as herbicide or pesticide. Constraints range from knowledge about usage of the product to access and availability to distrust about effects of use. For example, the farmer interviewed in

22 | Market Development Facility

West #9 explained that chemicals are not available in the market, and in any case he does not know how to use them. And many farmers – such as West #7– reported that they do not use chemicals due to their harmful nature. The following table illustrates how many households interviewed actually purchased inputs. Table 12 Number of households Purchasing Inputs by District District

Fertilizer Purchase

Chemical Purchase

Seed Purchase

West

Central

East

Total

36%

32%

25%

Percent of Sample (n=28)



Diminished trader networks and marketing channels mean that both men and women spend considerable time and expense selling their produce (or are unable to do so) which is particularly problematic for poorer and remote households that cannot afford the transportation costs. In the focus group discussions, women explained that they would prefer to not go to the market themselves, instead have a trader come to them i.e. if the trader’s visits were consistent / reliable and if the prices were not much lower than in the market. On the flip side, traders find the prospect of sourcing to be difficult mainly due to a lack of awareness about which producers to buy what from, as well as the absence of incentives to buy from districts due to difficulties around bulk buying. This is evident from unsold products at household levels, small volumes generated per farm as well as complaints around sourcing by traders gathered from other MDF research. There is a general lack of financial resources to invest in productive activities since microfinance demand is not met and limited savings have been mobilised.40 Microfinance is available, but the loan products are typically geared to non-agricultural activities and require repayment to start almost immediately. Since loans for farming require time for prepayment, this creates a problem for farming households with regards to the financial products offered and the interest rate that must be paid. Women in Ermera district reported that loans were not suitable for livestock or for crops, however they are able to get loans for buying coffee cherries at a low price ($0.20 per kilo), reselling for a margin, and then pay off the loan in a few days or a week. As we have seen traditional needs playing a significant role in changing the economic outlook of a household, savings mobilisation probably happens more for taking care of traditional or social obligations. Interestingly, households are able to accommodate for unpredictable traditional or social obligations, either from loans or through savings. Oversupply of production in some cases leads to lower prices. This is especially so when the goods are sold very close to the farms, and given that most households in a suco have similar cultivation patterns and harvest times, a localised oversupply situation occurs. This may not reflect district or national supply / demand situations, but the cost and time limitations of poorer households means they are less able to take advantage of other potential markets (e.g. Central #12 reported losing a lot of produce to waste, either because of not being able to sell at market or being eaten by rats). This is further exacerbated by the low purchasing power of consumers in the districts – for example, with higher incomes, there could be greater trade in livestock which is now generally only consumed on special occasions or times of social

USAID (2008) Timor-Leste Economic Recovery Assessment. P.v

Market Development Facility | 23



obligations (as income rises in countries around the world, increased consumption of animal protein commonly occurs). Difficulty in connecting supply sources with demand areas also mean that households in sucos also do not get the access to or are not able to enjoy a great variety of food and other products which may improve their quality of life. Weak enabling environment including unclear policies around inputs, interference in markets and pricing, and unpredictable purchase of commodities by public institutions lead to artificially high price expectations from farmers as well as contribute to an increase in buyer uncertainty. Thus farmers are not incentivised to produce surplus products in fear of the event of buyer unavailability. Furthermore, as farmers are not looking for surplus, this coupled with the misinformation around input usage, leads to little investment in farm productivity. Rain fed agriculture does not allow for multiple cropping – for example, only one harvest of rice or vegetables may be possible in a year due to weather patterns, whereas on irrigated land, it is possible to have multiple harvests in one year. This constraint is unresolved due to low access to irrigation technologies that are either unaffordable, inappropriate or unavailable. Women in Suco Liurai in Alieu District (FGD #3) told us that they walk up to one hour each way to their vegetable plots twice a day, may take two hours to water plants by hauling water from the river, and still only earn $10 a season for surplus. As this is a significant issue for vegetable production (see section on gender below) and for other staple crops, an additional study on potential solutions would be beneficial to increasing greater inclusion of access to irrigation.

In the rest of this section, we examine the main agricultural crops of smallholder farmers and the constraints that they face in increasing incomes and reducing levels of household poverty. Comparative information on yields and prices is drawn from international sources, and where possible neighbouring Indonesia with its relevance for comparison. Among the households where the poverty interviews were held, coffee, vegetables and rice are the main cash crops. While other crops are frequently grown for consumption – maize, cassava, taro, pumpkin, beans – they are not significant in terms of contributing household income. Rice is the preferred staple and these crops usually replace rice as staples in the lean season when rice has been consumed, and serve as feed for livestock. Households which can afford to will continue to purchase rice during the lean season and do not typically eat some of these crops. There is variation in main cash and consumption crop(s) depending on the region, district and even sub-district. For example, in Bobonaro district in the West, Maliana sub-district grows rice because there is access to water, but in other sub-districts of Bobonaro, there is a greater focus on vegetables as a cash crop. Livestock is also an important part of the household economy, providing a savings mechanism for expenses such as education and social obligations. Both vegetables and livestock offer economic opportunities for women in production and marketing, while other cash crops see women engaging in production and benefits of increased income. The following table shows the main crops by district and the average value sold – note that vegetables are grown across all districts and were sources of income for most households.

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Table 13 Average Value of Crops Sold by District Average Value Sold District

Rice

Maize

Aileu Ainaro Baucau Bobonaro

$1,166.67

$50.00

$35.00

$380.00

$97.50

$60.00

$1,152.80

$1,000.00

Grand Total

$1,056.00

Other (tree crops)

$143.67

$670.00 $60.00

Viqueque

Coffee

$543.75

$780.00

Ermera

Vegetables

$50.00

$2,762.50

$350.67 $51.67

$628.55

$500.00 $1,418.13

$194.57

Coffee Coffee is the second largest world commodity after petroleum with over five billion kilograms consumed annually.41 As a commodity, it is subject to price variations that result from a host of factors from around the world – for example, a recent Bloomberg report describes how a downturn in Brazilian production due to drought has led to a temporary rise in global prices.42 This report indicates, however, that futures are stable at about $2 per pound for dried coffee ($4.20 per kg). The Fair Trade Organisation reports that during the worldwide coffee crisis in the early 2000s ‘at their lowest, coffee prices fell to an extreme low of US$0.45 per pound. The coffee crisis forced hundreds of thousands of farmers out of business.’43 Today, the highest price that Timorese smallholder farmers receive is about equal to the crisis price of $0.45 per pound (=$0.99 per kg for dried beans), far below the world average. However, pricing of coffee depends upon the level of maturity and stage of processing – green cherries, red cherries and dried coffee beans – as well as the support provided by buyers. For example, NCBA who buys for Starbucks reportedly provides inputs and technical support that may explain their price of $1.00 per kg for dried beans. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 44 cites the world average yields for coffee production are 760 kg per ha. Indonesia is the lowest among major producers at 580 kg per ha, while Vietnam is the highest at almost 2000 kg per ha. However, it is reported elsewhere that Indonesian production is at about 60% of its potential and could aim for 1000 kg per ha.45 (In general, optimal yields are reported to occur when one prunes from the 7th year and applies insecticides and pesticides.) According to our findings (based on our sample size), Timor-Leste’s coffee production ranges between 500 kg and 1000 kg per ha, and is therefore on par with Indonesia but significantly below its potential on average.46 Organic and fair trade coffee offer a possible opportunity for Timor-Leste. NCBA / CCT is the largest buyer in Timor-Leste and supplies to Starbucks as a niche product. In case of participating in the bulk coffee markets, Timor-Leste suffers from an inherent disadvantage of small current volumes produced. Improvements in cultivation leading to increased productivity is expected to take a number of years. However, given the smallholder nature of the average coffee plantations, greater care can be Global Exchange http://www.globalexchange.org/fairtrade/coffee/faq Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-24/high-coffee-prices-seen-supported-by-brazil-plight.html 43 Fair Trade Organization http://fairtrade.ca/en/products/coffee-0 44 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development http://www.unctad.info/en/Infocomm/Beverages/Coffee-French-versiononly/Crop/ reports 45 ICO http://www.ico.org/event_pdfs/seminar-certification/certification-iccri-paper.pdf 46 Typical yield is 800 kg/ha but estimates by industry experts suggest that production of cherries could be boosted up to five times the current yield through pruning and rehabilitation (MDF Sector Assessment Report for Agribusiness, Processing and Rural Distribution, 2013). 41 42

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given to selecting and processing the beans. As such actions are time and energy consuming, only premium markets and the prices offered by such markets would be considered an appropriate incentive for farmers to follow such a pathway. This suggests that there is a need for investment in boutique coffee operations than large scale. In Timor-Leste, coffee is to some extent treated as a wild crop which has been grown for generations and is picked / harvested by the farmers as a crop that supplements income. There is a general lack of attention by producers in terms of proper pruning and re-planting. This has resulted in aged coffee plants that are possibly past their most productive years and shade trees becoming vulnerable to diseases. Poor maintenance indicates that most of the coffee is forest grown and organic in nature which implies little or no use of fertilizers or other inputs. Only a few buyers are engaged with farmers providing advice on cultivation and fair price but apart from those buyers, farmers do not get any extension services or information on coffee cultivation. Box 6

Certified coffee: from niche to mainstream

Certified coffee is no longer an inconsequential market niche. The sustainable coffee segment has been increasing by about 20%-25% each year (even excluding 4C verifications) compared to about 2% for conventional coffee. Major corporations are becoming increasingly interested in this segment and so it is likely that the sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth will continue. If recent rates of growth do indeed continue, then certified coffees might grow from the 2009 level of 8% to a worldwide share of 20%-25% of global green coffee trade by 2015. In wealthier markets, i.e. the United States and Western Europe, some national market shares have already reached 10%-40%. Source: International Trade Centre 2011

Ermera district in the West grows coffee as its main cash crop. There is some variation on the reported productivity and therefore net income per ha, ranging from about 500 to 1000 kg per ha.47 Household West #3, for example grows over 1000 kg of coffee on 2 ha. However, this land is intercropped with vegetables for household consumption which may contribute to a reduced number of coffee plants. Household West #4 grows coffee and vegetables separately on 2.5 ha and are able to grow over 2000 kg of coffee on 2 ha while making significant income from vegetables on the remaining 0.5 ha. Although as we shall see elsewhere that traditional methods of intercropping can be advantageous, this seems unlikely to be the case for coffee plantations. This observation is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that suggests intercropping with coffee is only viable for young coffee trees and at this stage can compensate for loss of income as mature trees are replaced with young ones or as new plantations are established.48 Coffee appears to be grown across the Central region (the two districts Aileu and Ainaro were researched) but it is less significant to income than vegetables. Further, households growing coffee do not invest much time, resources or inputs to improve production and the yields are also very low in this region. For example Central #11 harvests a maximum of 300 kg per 1.5 ha, giving yields of 200 kg per ha, and Central #15 reports 360 kg on 1 ha. Central #13 reports a harvest of 300 kg on .27 ha (= 1111kg per ha) but their overall reporting was questionably accurate. In general, the trees are old, most households do not prune and the approach to harvesting is unclear -that is, do they harvest all or only harvest according to their labour availability. This could benefit from additional research and would be relevant for all coffee growing farmers, not just poorer farmers.

A household that reported only .14 ha of land, harvests over 600 kg of coffee receiving $500 to $600 in revenue. This would be equivalent to 4285 kg per ha. It seems unlikely that the income is wrong so it is likely that the land size is not accurate. Even in Vietnam which is known for coffee production, 2000 kg per ha is usually the higher end. 48 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Arabica Coffee Manual for Myanmar: Chapter Five http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ae938e/ae938e07.htm

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Box 7

Snapshot of a coffee growing household – West #3

On the surface, this house is extremely poor as 13 people are supported on a total net annual income of only $2170 or $166 per capita per year equalling $0.46 per day. The interviewers noticed the struggling conditions of the household and the high number of children (11). Despite this, the family is very entrepreneurial, cultivating coffee and pumpkin leaves, running a canteen and selling pies at the market and supporting three of their 11 children to go to university in Dili. Their coffee productivity is relatively low – about 555 kg per ha – but they sell at a decent price for Timor-Leste ($1000 for 1111 kg or $0.90 / kg). They also grow staple crops for consumption to reduce expenditures but during the lean season the parents eat less and they mainly consume taro and cassava. The household has rocky land and cannot diversify to vegetables, and does not use any types of chemicals or fertilizers to improve coffee yields. It appears that they do regular pruning (on advice from the buyer) but do not plant new bushes. Their yields are below average for Timor-Leste – 555 kg per ha. Although they run a canteen, they cannot expand it to supplement income as they have no access to finance (they sometimes borrow from neighbours to pay school fees). Access to finance might enable them to increase incomes from the canteen and begin to replant their coffee for better yields. An interesting consideration for this farmer and other households is that if they do not use fertilizer and other chemicals, their coffee could be certified organic and therefore receive a price premium. This opportunity is even more interesting when we realise that Indonesia is the largest Asian exporter of organic coffee.

Currently coffee is viewed as an inherited livelihood which provides income once a year through selling of ‘collected’ berries. Often times, households have the coffee payments supplement their major form of livelihood which could be vegetables or non-farm jobs or selling of livestock. From our sample, it was seen that those households with few other activities earn more from coffee, either out of necessity or dedication than those who rely more heavily on other sources of income or grow most of their own foods. This could be because they have less time to spend picking coffee cherries. This could be mitigated through the use of hired labour but there too are issues. There are almost only a few households (as per our sample) employing labour to harvest coffee, which raises the question of how intensively it is harvested. If the family is doing it on their own, in addition to all of their other activities, are they harvesting all coffee they could, or just what they have time / need for – as one family did say specifically (and harvesting is very labour intensive). Few of the households (Central #11, 13 and West #3) also mentioned that the coffee harvest can be physically demanding, and particularly difficult if the plantations are on highlands. There is another angle to labour availability that warrants further investigation. In some areas, it is difficult to hire labour to work on coffee plantations during the harvest period, as most farmers are busy on their own coffee plantations. There is insufficient evidence to draw any conclusion on how land size or intercropping provides increased income for households with coffee. There also appears to be no single solution to earning more from coffee, or for coffee growing households to earn more as a unit. Rather it is likely to be a combination of factors. The households with highest per capita incomes in total (all except one) rely on mixed income from business activities, pensions, or employment. Therefore, it is difficult to draw any conclusion on increased household income from reliance on coffee. However, for those households that earned significant income from coffee (half or more), all had a few similarities i.e. a good size of coffee growing land, ability to secure a high price ($0.80-1.00 / kg) for their produce, and were growing a few number of crops on their land (and it can be assumed that they were more focused on coffee as a cash crop). The two with lowest per capital incomes in total have small and poor land and appear focused on home-consumption production. Apart from the issue of hired labour and cultivation intensity, information from FGDs indicate that there is an element of price differential between dried and ripe cherries. Although farmers receive a better price from selling dried cherries, the drying process is much more time consuming and there is also a need for certain drying tools and techniques to ensure quality. To reduce this effort and to earn quick money, farmers often sell ripe cherries to buyers. Overall, with a good size of land, (approximately 2 ha minimum based on our small sample group), a consistent buyer, good sales price, proper maintenance of coffee plants and availability of labour to harvest more, a household can earn a decent income from coffee. Small plots of land focused on

Market Development Facility | 27

coffee could potentially earn more, provided there is a good sales price and more intensity in harvesting. However the families (in our sample) with small plots for coffee are also focused on other sources of income through farming and other activities, and without hiring additional labour, they would struggle to earn more from their coffee. They are the ones who are also receiving a lower price for their berries. Hence, with proper incentives and a consistent buyer, coffee can be lucrative, and can help vulnerable and poor families earn more income. As discussed in detail in later sections, the main implications for poor households and coffee cultivation are that increased incomes are possible through increased productivity even on small landholdings, picking of the choice berries, mechanisation of processing (see discussion in womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s empowerment section below), improved buyer arrangements and better prices, and a possible increase in coffee sold into organic markets. Vegetables Most households are engaged in some form of vegetable cultivation, if not for sale, at least for household consumption. Vegetables are grown either as the major crop or alongside the major crop. Sometimes land is dedicated to the crop and in other times the household premises is used as a kitchen garden. Variety in vegetable cultivation is questionable and it is more likely that kitchen gardens are dominated by low value, low input and low nutritional content varieties such as greens, cassava and papaya leaves. Most households are self-sufficient in vegetables, thus buying very little for consumption from the market. This however, does not mean that there is great variety available for consumption. It is difficult to compare yields and prices of vegetables to world rates. This is due to the various different measurements that is used in Timor-Leste which do not comply universal measurement standards such as buckets, bundles, heads etc. and the less consistent data as compared to coffee and rice, since vegetables are typically sold fresh in local markets in Timor-Leste and cannot be compared as in the case of commodities. However, in general, fertilizers and chemicals are often not used (either too expensive, not available or not trusted by farmers), cultivation practices are basic, irrigation is problematic and buying arrangements are not advantageous to smallholder households or traders. However, as vegetables are sold fresh, there is less import competition with local production: for example, cheap imported eggs are purchased by even the poorest households we interviewed whereas only certain higher end grocery stores, restaurants and hotels will rely on imported vegetables. In the West region, households in Atsabe subdistrict of Ermera and Bobonaro district grow vegetables for sale. Like coffee, there is a significant range in per ha yields (which is assumed based on quantities sold) and incomes for vegetables. The household with the highest per ha income, in fact had very small plots for each vegetable (mustard, pak-choi and mixed vegetable) with up to $1412 per ha for mustard when pro-rated â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but was able to grow three times a year during the dry season from May until January (see West#4). The lowest net income for vegetables is $743 but this household had very high transport costs. If we ignore transportation costs, the typical net income on one hectare for vegetables is about $1000 (and there is often continuous growing / multiple harvests). Cropping patterns are under-utilised or unknown to farmers but crops with multiple harvesting times are preferred as it allows multiple opportunities for sale, resulting in higher income over the year. From our sample survey, it was seen that sometimes vegetables (a wide variety) are grown and sold on an ad-hoc basis along with fruits and any other agriculture or forest products. Although vegetables are considered as cash crops and households know that the bundle of products, including vegetables, are profitable, they perhaps are unaware of profitability of vegetables themselves and are also unaware of profitable combinations of crops. The lack of knowledge on market demand and schedule of supply

28 | Market Development Facility

results in oversupply of a specific product in the local area, thereby reducing its market price and leading to distressed selling. In Central region, most households grow vegetables for sale with an emphasis on cabbage and mustard. The net incomes are lower than Western region – for example ranging from $378 up to $800 per ha prorated (one is considerably higher at over $1900 but this may be a land calculation issue). Still, vegetables are a more significant source of income for Central region than is coffee, and overall households in Central exhibit greater poverty than Western region. Contract farming and any other direct connection with traders are preferred as it saves time for sale and provides for some form of guidance. This form of agreement creates means for a reliable buyer, inputs and transport provision, no loss of time going to market and still allows for other commercial activities. Such benefits were supported by interviews of a contract farming household in the Central region (Central #16). Such agreements appear to be a good option for other farmers if contract farming could be increased (we do not know the prevalence in the region based on our small sample size). A regular buyer, as discussed below, would also help as households want to save time going to market. However, contract farming is a very specific solution which requires significant expertise on the part of a contractor to manage the supply chain. Thus, contract farming, although a preferable form of transaction for some, requires close coordination and effort, and may not be the most feasible solution for most. In East region, vegetables represent one of a number of income earning strategies where rice, tree crops and salaried income are also common. Three households in Viqueque and Baucau districts stand out as earning significantly from vegetables – with pro-rated net incomes from $1200 to over $2000 per ha (see East #25, #26 and #27) – even with transportation costs. The main vegetables in the East region are mustard, cabbage and tomato. Vegetables, although widely grown, are also most perishable. Thus, even though farmers can and do grow a variety of vegetables, the absence of significant levels of buyers can constrain any benefits that can be derived from vegetable cultivation. Trading is a problem in general and consequently large amount of time is spent / wasted in trying to sell or sitting in markets waiting for sale. This at times induces trading amongst producers which has become fairly common. Some producers are able to buy from neighbours and sell to the markets all together. However, these producers use their own very limited cash to buy, thus are not able to buy any sort of bulk for reselling. Households closer to the market are at an advantageous position in this regard, as they can frequently visit the market and sell their produce regularly. Moreover, households closer to markets are more likely to use a variety of inputs. Box 8

Snapshot of a vegetable growing household – Central #16

This household grows root crops and rice for consumption, and relies on other vegetables for agricultural income – cabbage, pumpkin, mustard and watermelon. They have about 1 ha of irrigated land and plant the vegetables after they harvest rice. Their total net income is $985 per year, and when the value of rice grown for consumption is calculated, the average per capita income of this household of nine is $0.43. The income from vegetables is $625 per year of which $500 is earned on a contract farming basis for Kmanek. Kmanek sets the price when they deliver the seeds. Contract farming is considered desirable by many as the seeds are provided, you are told what to grow with a guaranteed market, and the buyer comes to collect the produce cutting down on transportation costs and the time involved in going to the market. However, many households earn much more per ha for vegetables (e.g. East #27 reports earning $2400 on 0.5 ha each season).

Access to inputs and information on cultivation practices is yet another issue in vegetable cultivation in Timor-Leste. At present, vegetable cultivation does see a bit of input usage, especially seeds and some fertilizer, however, there is little evidence from the study of chemical usage. Inputs also are only

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used for particular vegetables such as cabbages. There were only a few households who bought seeds for multiple varieties. Thus, although one particular crop benefits from input usage, the technique is not copied across other crops. There is little or no information available on cultivation practices for vegetables. This includes information on inputs, types of vegetables to grow, cropping patterns, relative profitability of a cropping pattern, staggered cropping, etc. Some farmers under the contract farming model are able to access such information but others are left to their own knowledge and interpretations, which create different perceptions about input usage. Misunderstanding inputs and usage of inputs is rife amongst farmers. Most households do not have access to any information around using inputs thus have false beliefs, which prevents greater input usage to boost production. Apart from inputs and cultivation techniques, other support services such as difficulties with storage, irrigation and financial services loom large. Absence of storage facilities lead to wastage if the farmers are unable to sell their produce. In addition, lack of water can cause abandoning of plots and the unavailability of agricultural loans restrict operations from growing to their potential. For smallholder households, even the poorest would benefit from access to improved knowledge and skills, greater variety in seeds and inputs from local markets, more advantageous buying arrangements and irrigation technologies. Women explained to us that they cannot access seeds for all vegetables they would like to grow (such as certain varieties of tomatoes for processing), that inputs are not always available in the market, that they take long hours to water plants and have to go to the market to sell vegetables in order to get a reasonable price. These constraints all contribute to reduced incomes. If these constraints can be addressed then vegetable cultivation will be able to play a significant role in reducing poverty as there is a market demand for vegetables. It can be grown with other crops and proper planning can create multiple income earning streams in a year. The solutions section offers suggestions on how MDF can overcome these constraints and support increased incomes for men and women. Rice Average global rice yields are above 4000 kg of paddy per ha49 with neighbouring Indonesia reporting just under the world average.50 Moreover, rice productivity worldwide has increased dramatically over the years with crop life cycle management, improved varieties, and innovations such as SRI (System of Rice Intensification) reporting yields as high as 18,000 kg per ha while using lower levels of chemicals.51 In general, Timorese farmers have not benefited from such advances and lack access to new knowledge and technologies. With relatively low rice yields52 and little access to new techniques and technologies, smallholder rice farmers in Timor-Leste have fewer opportunities to rise out of poverty. In the West and Central regions, rice is grown for household consumption and is not usually sold. In the East region, there are higher sales of rice with four of the ten households surveyed engaged in selling rice. Even in this region, the yields can be lower than world averages but on par with Indonesia, with farmers reporting around 3500 kg per ha pro-rated. (Note that understanding rice yield and pricing information is complicated by the use of local weights and measures, the fact that rice can be paddy, husked or milled which was not always reported in interviews, and the government provides subsidies on rice to consumers. These facts do not affect our overall conclusions but inconsistency is noted.)

USDA reported in http://oryza.com/news/rice-news/usda-increases-2013-14-global-rice-production-forecast-4711-million-tons Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_production_in_Indonesia 51 See Cornell University http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/aboutsri/FAQs1.html#benefitpoor â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Benefits include increased yields of 20-50% or more, a reduction in seed use of 80-90%, and up to 50% water savings. SRI methods have shown these significant benefits across all ecological zones in over 50 countries, and have been adopted largely by smallholder farmers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; 52 The national average yield of rice in Timor-Leste is 1.79 MT/ha (Government of Timor-Leste, Strategic development plan, section 4, 2011) 49 50

30 | Market Development Facility

The average price that Timorese farmers receive for milled rice is around $0.70 per kg and around $0.42 per kg of paddy. As rice cultivation is typically rain fed and dependent on rainfall between seasons, rice is grown mostly just one season. Those that use the land for more than one season (either able to do two seasons of rice; or use the land to plant and sell vegetables after the rice) have slightly higher per capita incomes. However, it is important to note that per capita income in all cases is influenced by supplemental incomes through employment or business activities. In our sample , those growing rice and earning the highest per capita income (the top 6) all have alternate sources of income for which they rely on (job, business activity, animal sales). Four out of six are self-sufficient households and those that are, sell their surplus, and they have a minimum of 0.5 ha of rice planted. They also have higher estimated yields per ha (which would explain the surplus to sell). Those who are self-sufficient, have average total land size of 2.8 and average land size of rice planted of 1.3. On the other hand, those who are not, have average total land size of 2.2 and average land size of rice planted of 0.9. Although, differences are negligible, the variation in income per capita can be rooted / traced back to the cultivation practices and land usage. Those households growing rice and vegetables on the same piece of land are more likely to sell both crops (reasons unknown) and as a group, have higher income (when looking at revenue of rice and vegetables only, not other sources). Those households growing rice and vegetables on the same piece of land have higher average revenue for the two crops than for those growing on separate pieces which are more likely to sell just one vegetable crop. The highest per capita income households are more likely to be involved in staged or double cropping, where one crop is planted after another in the same plot or two crops of rice are planted. For lower per capita income households and smaller land size holders, the rice yields do not seem to be higher for those involved in staged cropping compared to those only growing rice once per year. The size of the land may have some implications on income. The assumption is: the more land a household has, the more it is able to grow, and the greater its saleable surplus will be. But overall, conclusions are difficult to draw from our small sample. However, results from our survey show that those households selling both vegetables and rice seem more likely to use staged cropping or have two rice seasons in a year, with an average total land size of 1.8 ha. Whereas, those selling only one crop (either vegetables or rice) use separate pieces of land, have an average total land size of 2.5 ha. This indicates that those with smaller land size are more adept at utilising that land size for earning higher incomes. Overall, rice as a staple crop would definitely contribute in reducing household expenditure; but consideration needs to be made to the trade-off of using land to grow more rice or using staged cropping with vegetables to supplement household income. In any case, rice farmers would benefit from improved techniques, access to irrigation allowing double cropping for those that are rain-fed, and reduced exposure to pests both pre and post-harvest. It is important to consider that rice can be sold and is also the more preferred staple. Thus, investing in rice is not only a way to improve income, but also a way to have more for household consumption while saving on the cost of purchasing rice.

Market Development Facility | 31

Box 9

Snapshot of a rice growing household – East #26

This household has a mixed cropping pattern selling both rice and vegetables, while also growing rice and maize for consumption, harvesting candlenuts, and trading bananas and coconuts. They use the land well, planting vegetables after they harvest rice. Their total net income from agriculture is $2059 per year – on sale of rice and vegetables. They sell two large bags of rice (about 1400 kg) while consuming four bags, and earn a net income of $835. They earn a net income of $1200 from vegetables and the resale of coconuts and bananas, so vegetable productivity is not clear. With seven people in the household, that equals $294 per capita income per year, or $0.81 per day. The family is industrious and secures good yields on their limited land size with long-term market linkages. Their focus is on educating their children. The wife sells vegetables in Dili and finding buyers there is not a problem. The household has a limited land size of 1 ha, cannot access more land, and is unable to get a loan from the bank to expand their agricultural sales business (although they previously had a microfinance loan). They have high transportation costs to access markets. They use liquid fertilizers on their rice, buy seeds and rent a hand tractor. New market linkages to cut down on their high transportation costs would be beneficial – perhaps a local market, farm gate sales or contract buyer; access to finance to expand their buying and selling business (although in this case, transportation costs would remain a necessity).

Mixed cropping All types of multiple cropping – crop rotation, sequential cropping, mixed cropping and multi-story planting, are known strategies for increasing outputs of land.53 However, knowledge and skills regarding appropriate combinations and practices are necessary to ensure positive results since poor technique can reduce rather than increase yields. In all regions surveyed, there is evidence of intercropping and sequential planting; whether this practice yields maximum benefit is debatable. In the West and Central regions of Timor-Leste, households often intercrop vegetables with coffee plants, or divide land to dedicate areas to specific crops. Two households in Ermera, West region, grow vegetables as well as coffee. One household is particularly effective earning over $2000 on 2 ha of coffee, and $1542 on 0.5 ha of vegetables (averaging $1400 prorated per ha on its 2.5 ha of land). This farm grows coffee, mustard and pak-choi (West #4), and has dedicated land for vegetables. In Central region, although coffee sales are much weaker, farmers with mixed cropping of different vegetables can earn much more than those that relied on coffee. Household Central #12 illustrates how a small plot of land can combine rice, coffee, vegetables and staples, ensuring that an otherwise quite poor household can keep its head above water. In the East, the land sizes are usually larger, and it is possible to diversify crops by utilising separate plots for different crops. Sequential cropping has proven to be especially effective in the case of some interviewed households. Households East #26 and #27 both plant vegetables after they harvest their rice crop, and have per ha pro-rated income of over $2000 (even though #27’s PPI is low due to a small land size and large family, their productivity is high). There is also supplementary income from tree crops in the East but this does not seem to result in very high income except in the case of teak trading which is very profitable for household East #25. Before, this household cut and processed teak from other people’s land, but recently the family planted 100 teak trees, which they will harvest in eight years.

See for example http://www.nbc.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Multiple-Cropping-Paper-Bhutan-for-SAC-1.pdf

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Box 10

Snapshot of a Mixed Cropping Household income earning from multiple crops – West #4

West #4 is also a large household with 10 supported (including a daughter in university), with a total net income of $3,760; per capita income is $376 per year and over $1 per day. They have diversified their income base by growing coffee on 2 ha (with a reasonable yield for Timor-Leste of 1000 kg per ha), and cultivating mustard and pa--choi (bok choy) on 0.5 ha. Their yield per ha is better than many households and their average pro-rated per ha income for agriculture is $1400 per year. They also increase household income through entrepreneurial activities such as renting out their generator, and buying and selling vegetables. Note that the wife buys vegetables from neighbouring farmers and sells in Dili and would expand if she could buy more vegetables locally. Although they get an average price for coffee by Timor-Leste standards ($0.90 per kg) – they still receive a low price according to world prices. Production volume is hampered by the fact that they do not have access to fertilizers and chemicals, and are also not confident about the use of chemicals – however, this may provide an interesting opportunity to sell organic coffee at premium prices. Further, they cannot expand the land under vegetable cultivation until they fix the fences. If other local farmers had more surplus vegetables, they could be sold by this household for the benefit of both parties. The market is close by so selling vegetables is not an issue.

Other mixed crops that are grown on small plot of land include maize, cassava, taro and sweet potato. Households also plant these crops on their primary land (if their land size is too small) after the main growing season. The mixed crops grown is part of a coping strategy for households to deal with lack of staples (mainly rice) during particular times of the year, which may be referred to as the ‘hungry season’. Hungry months are periods where households are not necessarily eating less but are eating less or no rice. Thus these mixed crops are used to feed the household when there is little or no rice left (either from the farm or no money to buy it from the market). The households also rotate consumption of rice with consumption of mixed crops so as to reduce pressure on rice consumed. These crops are usually not the preferred staple, and are seldom sold. They are usually sold in retail whenever the opportunity arises. Household are not able to use these crops for barter, as most households have the same mixed crop field. Mixed cropping by growing maize, cassava and taro is a low input / low output activity, due to which it can be considered sub-optimal or even wasteful. Households continue to dedicate time and land to this but they do not get much in return. As with the cultivation techniques, the post-harvest and storage options are also basic. Poor storage results in crop loss attributed to rot from moisture and fungal and vermin infestation. This raises the question of suitability of such crops as a poverty reducer, as these mixed crops are not linked to markets as such. It is unlikely to have any impact on poverty unless value addition or processing industries developed around such crops in Timor-Leste. Households could be linked to food processors such as consumer foods, etc. which could add value to the mixed crops grown by the households. They could also be linked to animal feed manufacturers. It is important to provide households with information on better use of the land dedicated to mixed cropping. In other words, ensuring that households are planting the most profitable crops on their land as opposed to the commonly found combination of sweet potato, taro and maize. In addition, provision of information on easy to prepare household mix of animal food from mixed crops would also be beneficial. This information could be paired with use of inputs. Overall, a more productive mixed crop by optimising the total output of the plots would provide enough for the household and its livestock. Although multiple cropping (sequential and intercropping) has a potentially positive impact on yields, farmers need to have knowledge of optimal approaches and crops, timing and techniques, so that more farmers can be as successful as the ones with higher yields noted here.54 In some cases, intercropping is not as beneficial –such as when maize is intercropped with coffee – and so multiple cropping patterns could be researched and the best options promoted in Timor-Leste.

Sequential cropping is defined as a form of multiple cropping in which crops are grown in sequence on the same field, with the succeeding crop planted after the preceding crop is harvested. Intercropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in proximity. 54

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Livestock In much of Timor-Leste, livestock is reared as part of a livelihood strategy. In West region, for example, most households rear chicken for consumption and sales, and pigs for sales only. Livestock is sold to cover the costs of education and social obligations. However, in East region, there appears to be more opportunities for more commercial livestock rearing where maintaining herds and regularly selling large livestock (buffalo and cows as in the case of Households #23 and #24) contributes to overall household maintenance and not just specific expenses as in the West. Box 11

Snapshot of Livestock Rearing Household value of livestock production and sales – East #23

East #23 does well with only 2 ha of land considering it has 11 dependents. Household income is derived from a pension, sale of buffalo, petrol, and farming of rice and mung beans. The total net income of the household is $3,155; $286.8 annual per capita income, and a daily per capita of $0.78. Of the total net income, between 22 and 44 % comes from the sale of livestock annually, and the household maintains a herd of 30 buffalo. The focus of this household is to get the children educated to tertiary levels and to ensure that they do not have to return to farming – three of the children and one son-in-law have or are being supported at university in Dili. In addition to livestock, they report growing 1000 cans (20L cans) of rice which would equal 7000 kg of milled rice which is a little under average for 2 ha. Mung beans are grown on 1 ha or the same land after harvest, increasing overall productivity of the land, and they harvest 400 kg for which they receive $400. The head of the household is ageing and getting sick, but the husband of the elder daughter is taking over the farming responsibility. They are constrained by their distance to markets (about 1.5 hours to Viqueque) and don’t grow and sell vegetables because of this. They sell mung beans locally but have had trouble selling it in bulk to traders in Dili, and also incurred high transportation costs getting their crops to Dili. Although they access chemicals from MAF, sometimes they run out and there can be an issue with insects. Their labour costs appear to be quite high. Therefore, their diversification into livestock, which leads to significant income from sales of buffalo, enables the household to achieve their aspirations.

Livestock also has the added benefits of being grazed on communal or fallow land, and small livestock requires little care and feeding. Cattle and pig manure are further used as natural fertilizers. Finally, small livestock – chicken and pigs are women’s work so have potential to contribute to women’s economic activity. However, as livestock are typically sold for education and social obligations, the income is not women’s per se but is used as a part of the household pool of income which from which spending is decided jointly between women and men.

Conclusions / Opportunities for MDF Strategy Key pathways out of poverty are described in this section. Pathways for increased agricultural income are already described in the MDF Sector Assessment for Agribusiness, Processing and Rural Distribution Report. In this section, we focus on poorer households, identifying new solutions or adjustments to solutions that will target poorer farming households and enable them to take advantage of opportunities. We therefore reference the constraints outlined in the preceding section and note that poorer households have fewer resources including land, curtailed access to finance in general as well as customised financial products, lower levels of skills and knowledge (access to information), and weaker or less beneficial relationships with traders or directly with markets. At the same time, they often live in more remote locations on more marginal land, which exacerbates constraints relating to access to services and markets. In general, improved agricultural production, as pointed out in the MDF Sector Assessment and Strategy for Agribusiness, Processing and Rural Distribution Report, will involve better access to new seed varieties, input supplies, information, skills and knowledge, new technologies and finance. For poorer households that may be subsistence farmers, note that through improved agricultural production, they can earn higher incomes through sale of increased surplus as well as save money through higher consumption as compared to having to spend money to buy food. In the case of households who produce for sale, improved production will need to be accompanied by higher sales

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(volume or value) which will further depend on better market access (trader networks), reduced spoilage and adequate infrastructure. In any partnership, MDF must be sure that actions do not place households at greater risk of hunger. For example, if a cash crop completely replaces subsistence agriculture based on the premise that increased income will lead to more even consumption throughout the year, what if that cash crop fails or prices plummet, and there is no stored food for the lean season? It is unlikely that MDF partnerships would encourage farmers to replace crops which will mitigate such a risk, and at the same time the project can strengthen coping strategies by making homestead gardens more productive and introducing more productive cropping patterns. Additionally, MDF needs to ensure inclusiveness in reach of opportunities to cover both men and women in order to maximise benefits of any work done by MDF. The table below summarises key opportunities for poorer households. Table 14 Constraints and Solutions to Pathways out of Poverty Constraints that deepen poverty

Limited knowledge and skills of farming households on cultivation patterns and practices

Opportunities for MDF

2. 3. 4. Availability and access of products and services

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Limited or inefficient market linkages

1. 2.

3. 4. 5. Difficult enabling environment for farming households and agribusinesses

1. 2. 3.

Provision of information to households on cultivation and post-harvest techniques, profitable cropping patterns, staggered cultivation for prolonged harvest, crop calendars and crop varieties. Information on these topics to be provided through multiple sources spanning public and private sector as well as traditional stakeholders such as the church and village chiefs; Work with credible sources of information, such as MAF, schools and churches, on the basics of input usage to reduce misunderstanding; Highlight the importance of homestead gardening and a larger variety of crops, as a way of eating better, through information sources in schools, hospitals, clinics, churches and market place; and Capitalise on ICT solutions through telecommunications and media outlets to improve information dissemination. Work with interested distribution partners, with sufficient reach, to improve access to affordable and quality inputs for major staples and horticulture as well as agriculture and storage equipment; Ensure availability of information, as an embedded service, on input usage along with products; Work with input market stakeholders, both public and private, to develop a comprehensive promotion campaign to improve uptake of inputs; Work with interested partners in promoting sales of livestock and irrigation products and services; Work with non-financial and financial institutes in introducing innovative loan products such as balloon and value chain financing to support growth of commercial agriculture and livestock operations. Additionally such actors could be influenced to introduce innovative saving schemes; Work with interested private sector distribution partners in incorporating ICT solutions to improve access and availability of products and services. Work with wholesalers and traders in providing demand and supply information to producers to enable easy sale by farmers and easy sourcing by traders; Use innovative services, such as mobile applications, to connect farmers to traders and vice versa to ensure: a. Steady supply of products to markets; b. Efficient connections between production areas and sources of demand (to prevent localised oversupply); c. Market driven pricing. Working with interested private sector partners in introducing specialist trade services such as product transport, quality testing and bulk storage; and Work with interested private sector partners to develop customised producer-trader relationships such as contract farming, value chain financing or supply of embedded services; Ensure incorporation of local context such as traditional collection points and matching trader days with traditional market days into MDF partnerships. Work with relevant private and public sector organisations to reduce market distortion through artificial pricing and free distribution of products and services; Influence the ministry of agriculture and fisheries (MAF) in expanding extension support from staples to other crops; and Work with MAF in connecting with private sector companies in extending extension outreach.

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Limitations beyond the Scope of MDF – Potential for Synergies MDF is a market development project that focuses on increased incomes through partnerships with the private sector, and in some cases government agencies and civil society. In Timor-Leste, the emphasis is on production and sales of agriculture products. However, in some cases, the work of MDF is impacted by other programming areas into which it does not venture. The following are potential opportunities and partnerships that MDF might consider involving as the activities go beyond the scope of MDF interventions. Poverty trap The poorest household among those surveyed is Central #17, and the situation seems quite dire. They scored 10 on the PPI – no wage labour, uneducated, no social transfer, small amount of land and a large number of children. Not only is this family poor, there seems to be no way out. Even increased productivity would not make that much difference due to the small land size and the large family. The poorest household in East region – East #22 – while still having a reasonable PPI compared to Central and West region household’s, are hampered by not owning much land and are dependent on sharecropping, palm wine production and shepherding for their meagre livelihood. Social transfers to deserving households (e.g. Central #17) and increased pensions would reduce the degree of poverty experienced by rural households that are not going to be able to increase their incomes through agricultural production. This might be an area for NGO or government intervention. Additionally, information on how to use the limited size of land available would be helpful. If the poor household has more and better food to eat from own land, then the same household can save the money used previously to buy food. This land may not be enough for staples but certainly can reduce the cost of purchasing vegetables and tubers from the market. Cost of education Some households carry a heavy expense load as they pay for their children’s education. For example, East #21 supports a daughter who is going to university in Indonesia while West #3 supports three children at university in Dili. Households would generally like their children to get higher education and salaried jobs. This means that the household struggles to make ends meet in order to send their children to higher education. This intergenerational transfer of funds – and ultimately prosperity – is a pathway out of poverty for a family, but may not benefit all generations. So, although MDF might increase incomes for farm households that income might go to financing education (rather than reinvesting in the farm for example) – so the household as a whole may not be lifted from poverty. However the children who are able to get the education will hopefully get gainful employment and will themselves escape from poverty, and may provide financial support for younger children’s education or to their parents as they age. It should also be noted however, that if MDF facilitates market change so that farmers can produce and earn more, and grow the farm as a viable business, then this might be an attractive opportunity for youth. This could result in reduced outmigration and increased prosperity in rural areas, while eliminating the need for young people to leave their families and go to Dili for education and employment. Further, it might be possible to work with other NGOs or agencies to provide training to rural youth on farming activities in order to prepare them to become farmers as a choice. If education is sought in the cities, increased scholarship opportunities through the government or foundations would help ease the burden of educational costs on poor rural households. Some countries (e.g. Kenya) have scholarship funds for poor rural youth who have performed to a specified level.

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Public sector services Public sector extension services appear to be quite weak. In particular, they tend to focus on a few crops (e.g. coffee and rice) and there is limited support for higher value vegetable crops and livestock. When households do receive technical advice on crops and veterinary services for livestock, they very much appreciate the new knowledge and services. However, the problem is the lack of such services. While extension services are lacking, the government does get involved in price subsidies on agricultural products (especially rice). Price fixing by the government helps the local population to access staples at an affordable cost, but can force down prices paid to farmers. It would be interesting to research the effect of such pricing issues in Timor-Leste which is beyond the scope of this report. Infrastructure Marketplaces, roads and communications are the key infrastructure constraints for agricultural households. Often households have to travel long distances and at significant costs to sell their surplus produce. This issue is exacerbated by poor road conditions that result in time delays and in some cases impassable conditions. Recommendations regarding market locations are made in the following section. MDF has been speaking with the DFAT-funded program Roads for Development about the importance of rural roads. The following table shows that many households do have access to communication: mobile phones and television. In fact, in one of our Focus Group Discussions (#4), the community explained that they had learned how to make a fish pond from a television program that was viewed on a mobile phone. MDF could consider working with a program of government body to explore information dissemination to farming households through such channels. Table 15 Access to ICTs Communications (N=28) Number of households with Mobile Phones

Number of households with TV or Radio

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PART TWO: WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT Introduction As noted above, the economic unit in Timor-Leste is the household, and it is not always possible or desirable to separate out women’s earnings from men’s or household income. However, secondary sources and our primary research provide important learnings and ways forward for women’s economic empowerment in the MDF program.

Background Research This section offers background information on women’s situation in Timor-Leste. This is further expanded in following sections that look at women’s economic empowerment through the lens of MDF’s women’s economic empowerment framework. As we will see below, our field research did not always corroborate the secondary sources, or alternatively have added nuanced information relevant to the study. Although the background information presents a rather bleak picture, we were able to update it with women’s views today and the opportunities open to them. All cultures are dynamic, and Timor-Leste is a society in rapid change – in 2012, 55 over half the population had access to mobile phones, male and female youth literacy rates had climbed to over 80% and 78% respectively,56 and oil income has led to some improvements in infrastructure such as roads and electricity (although procurement issues have hampered these projects).57 It is yet to be determined how women and the poor will benefit, but there are positive opportunities for women in MDF selected sectors that can be leveraged to women’s advantage and the well-being of their households. Three main historical influences on the status of women in Timorese societies have been identified: ‘Portuguese colonial patriarchal elite committed to conservative Catholicism; the violent and militarised society under Indonesian occupation during which women’s roles and responsibilities shifted radically; and the progressive international norms and gender policies of the UN administration and international agencies since 1999.’ 58 Therefore, Wigglesworth notes that the current practices that are termed as ‘traditional’ are cultural norms which have changed considerably over time and that are continuing to change in the post-independence era.59 Despite this, secondary sources often describe a static society where women are subordinate to men, and women’s ability to advance economically is compromised by their status and barriers such as access to assets and opportunities, discussed in greater detail below.60 UNDP’s most recent human development report on Timor-Leste demonstrates that while gender inequality has narrowed in recent years, significant gaps remain. In terms of general development indicators, women comprise almost 50% of the population, the majority are illiterate (although this is changing rapidly as noted above), experience very high birth rates and significant incidence of maternal mortality, and score lower than men in terms of economic and political participation.61 In UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/Timorleste_statistics.html UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/Timorleste_statistics.html 57 Index Mundi http://www.indexmundi.com/timor-leste/economy_profile.html 58 S. Niner (2012) reported in Wigglesworth, A. (2012) Dreaming of a Different life: Steps towards Democracy and Equality in TimorLeste. American Portuguese Studies Association. p.40 59 Wigglesworth, A. (2012) Dreaming of a Different life: Steps towards Democracy and Equality in Timor-Leste. American Portuguese Studies Association. p.40 60 Wigglesworth, A. (2012) Dreaming of a Different life: Steps towards Democracy and Equality in Timor-Leste. American Portuguese Studies Association. p.35-36 61 UNDP (2011) Timor‑Leste Human Development Report 2011: Managing Natural Resources for Human Development – Developing the Non-Oil Economy to Achieve the MDGs. 55 56

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fact, Timor-Leste was ranked between 125 and 126 in the United Nations 2004 gender-related development index (not reported in 2011) – much lower than many of its ASEAN neighbours with significant differences in earning power, standard of living, life expectancy, and overall status of women.62 Timorese society is patriarchal, upholding traditional norms in rural areas that are ‘based on the clear distinction of roles and responsibilities of men and women, different patterns of the exchange of goods and services between household members, and arrangements regarding individual and collective decisions.’63 Young rural Timorese women – due to age, location and gender –are considered the least empowered members of society.64 As a result of patriarchy and tradition, ‘Timorese women face pervasive structural discrimination and negative gender stereotypes, which dramatically impede their ability to participate in and benefit from education, employment, health services and political representation. A life of poverty and discrimination is the reality for many women in Timor-Leste, particularly women living in mountainous and highland areas, female heads of household, widows and older women. ‘6566 The constitution of Timor-Leste states that man and women should have equal rights, but at the same time stresses that the legal system should adopt customary law. Since customary law predominates in rural areas, and as it gives preference to men over women, the majority of rural women are highly disadvantaged.67 For example, customary law impacts women’s ability to own assets, and therefore borrow money, and develop economically. There tends to be an emphasis on characterising women as victims that does not illustrate women’s resilience and contributions, as well as the intergenerational shifts in education and opportunities. The following box promotes a somewhat different view, written by a Timorese woman who has been active in the women’s movement: Box 12

Pro-Active Women in Timor-Leste – Legacy of resistance

There is a history of women organising educational campaigns in rural areas throughout East Timor. I myself was involved in the early days of the OPMT (Organisaca<177> Popular das Mulheres Timorense) when we organised women's literacy classes and daily political discussions. After Indonesia invaded and we fled into the mountains, women and men both discussed the political situation at hand and developed strategies for resistance together. We must remember this history and learn again from it. Today, there are women's organisations and some NGOs that are truly working to support women's participation in the reconstruction of East Timor. Women have started new community literacy programs, community-based health initiatives, and small income generating projects for other women. More and more, women in rural areas are organising and demanding a voice in community decision-making and national policy. All these activities show that women have the strength and skill to take leadership and contribute significantly to the development of a new, independent East Timor. Source: Mana Micató, also known as Maria Domingas Alves Soares 2001 http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/999

Hedditch S. and Manuel C. (2010) Timor-Leste Gender and Investment Climate Reform Assessment in Partnership with AusAID. International Finance Corporation. P. vii 63 Hedditch S. and Manuel C. (2010) Timor-Leste Gender and Investment Climate Reform Assessment in Partnership with AusAID. International Finance Corporation. P. 5 64 Wigglesworth, A. (2012) Dreaming of a Different life: Steps towards Democracy and Equality in Timor-Leste. American Portuguese Studies Association. p.35. 62

Carmona, M. (2012) Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. United Nations General Assembly, May 24, 2012. 67 State Secretary for the Support and Promotion of the Private Sector (2013) National Strategy and Action Plan for Gender and Private Sector 2014-2017, Timor-Leste, p.17. 66

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In our last focus group discussion, the leaders were younger women – speaking out about opportunities, what they had initiated and what they hoped to achieve: Box 13

Young women leaders and Agricultural Innovation – Central Region Suco Asumao District Aleiu – FGD #4

Suco Asumao is located about half an hour off the road leading from Dili to Aleiu. We conducted a focus group discussion with about 12 women of all ages. However, unlike the other FGDs, it was younger women who spoke out and lent a dynamism to the group. They reported how they had themselves started savings groups and farming groups, had learned how to make fish ponds from television and how they were approaching the UNICEF for help in building greenhouses. When asked at the end of the FGD if they had any other questions or comments, they were full of other ideas: technical assistance and seeds for vegetables; irrigation or at least better buckets than the ones that they get from market which soon wear out; water taps that need to be fixed so that more harvests are possible in the dry season. Further, also unlike other groups, they explained that they share information with each other and men plant maize communally. This would be an ideal group with which to pilot something such as micro-irrigation.

Framework for Women’s Economic Empowerment In order to understand the current status of and potential for women’s economic empowerment (WEE) in Timor-Leste, the following framework has been adopted for this study and the overall MDF gender strategy. The WEE Framework draws on a definition of women’s economic empowerment that is compatible with Making Markets work for the Poor and Market Development initiatives, 68 enabling projects to articulate WEE objectives and opportunities, and to monitor if both income gains and empowerment have been achieved. Box 14

WEE Framework

We draw on the M4P conceptual framework for women’s economic empowerment (WEE) and key elements of the definition of WEE to determine the framework’s areas of focus: •

Economic advancement – increased income

•

Access to opportunities and life chances such as skills development or job openings

•

Access to assets, services and needed supports to advance economically

•

Decision-making authority in different spheres including household finances

•

Manageable workload

Source: Jones (2012)

The following findings, opportunities and monitoring recommendations are described in terms of the WEE Framework.

Findings These findings draw on both secondary research and primary research including both household interviews, separate interviews with men and women, and women’s only focus group discussions. They highlight the current situation for women and the constraints that challenge them in achieving greater economic equality. The findings also brought to light the differences that exist between cultural norms and people’s behaviour; that is, the discrepancy between perceptions of what is happening or should happen versus the reality of what actually happens. For example, in many interviews, male and female household members described the woman’s role as caring for the children and household, while in the reality, some of the men who noted this to be case, were found to be the ones caring for the children, while

Jones, L. (2012) Jones, L. (2012) Women’s Economic Empowerment Framework M4P Hub paper for DFID, Sida and SDC.

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their wives were at the local market, or in Dili visiting relatives. Although this study did not probe this phenomenon in detail (that is described more generally in the anthropological literature), it underlined the importance of not just gathering people’s opinions but also understanding their behaviours.

Economic Advancement – Increased Income Reports commonly indicate that the majority of work in Timor-Leste – productive and reproductive – is performed by women. Timorese women are very active in the agricultural sector with approximately 88% of women contributing to the sector, as compared to 82% of men. 69 Also relevant to an agricultural study, it has been found that most women’s businesses are in agribusiness and food production, retail trade, restaurants and services (mirroring their role in the care economy). Women’s businesses in these sectors are generally smaller in terms of size, turnover, and number of employees, and the majority of women entrepreneurs operate businesses alone, although family business prevails in the agriculture sector.70 Women are particularly active in trading, selling agricultural products to the market and managing kiosks, and are estimated to own over 40 percent of micro-enterprises. 71 Box 15

Women and Formal Business

As business owners, women own only 16 percent of formalised businesses in Timor-Leste. The dysfunctional formalisation procedure impacts disproportionately on women because women are more likely to be seen as ‘soft targets’ and therefore harassed by officials, and with their lower education levels, women are less able to navigate the system. Women professionals and entrepreneurs face constraints that inhibit their full potential for economic growth, held back by the male dominated culture, double time burden and disabling legal framework. Women are under-represented in formal labour markets. Women workers are concentrated in vulnerable forms of employment with low pay, poor working conditions and lack of protection. Stemming from less education and restrictive social norms, less than one-third of wage workers are women in most sectors – fewer than 7% in industrial sectors. In the service sectors (wholesale trade, retail, restaurants, and hotels) women outnumber men, but these sectors tend to be lower paying.

Despite segregation in the formal economy, for smallholder farmers, the economic unit is the household and therefore all interventions, as they increase household income, will benefit both women and men. We heard in all our interviews and focus group discussions that when there is increased income from agricultural activities, the whole household benefits. And, contributions to such gains are made by both men and women; women work in the fields alongside men – often weeding, watering and harvesting – and men support women’s activities through such tasks as preparing land for vegetable production and taking livestock to market for sales. In cash crops such as rice and coffee, women contribute but men are typically responsible overall including sales of the crop. In all cases, money earned from crops is pooled and decisions about expenditures are made jointly for the most part (more in decision making section below). However, in activities where women take the lead, the actual total financial gain to the household is less, so the perception may be that men contribute more or control more. For example, if vegetables are grown in the fields as cash crops, they are considered to be the men’s responsibility with women helping out. Conversely, if vegetables are grown in a smaller plot for consumption with some sales, then women take the lead with men providing support. Similarly, women manage smaller livestock (chicken, dogs and pigs) and men handle large animals (cows, buffalo and horses). Women often explain this as the need for men to be responsible for the heavy work – relating to sheer muscle power and not to time considerations or endurance. However, as women often carry heavy loads on their

Hedditch S. and Manuel C. (2010) Timor-Leste Gender and Investment Climate Reform Assessment in Partnership with AusAID. International Finance Corporation. P. viii 70 Ospina, S.(2006) Participation of Women in Politics and Decision Making in Timor-Leste: A Recent History UNIFEM p. 14 71 Hedditch S. and Manuel C. (2010) Timor-Leste Gender and Investment Climate Reform Assessment in Partnership with AusAID. International Finance Corporation. P. viii 69

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heads (for example, they carry the rice harvest) – this to some extent is an example of cultural norm versus actual behaviour, and solutions must take this contradiction into consideration. When considering women’s roles, we also need to be mindful of the subtleties behind lower involvement of women in a range of economic activities. Our research has found that the reason behind women being less involved or more focused on working closer to home may be a function of the large reproductive roles that are played by them, spanning from taking care of the children and seniors to cooking, cleaning and feeding family members. These roles are unlikely to change thus we need to be innovative in finding solutions to income generation which work around these traditional roles. Box 16 #4

Complementary roles of women and men in agriculture – Central Region Suco Asumao District Aleiu – FGD

In Suco Asumao, about half an hour off the road leading from Dili to Aleiu, women and men both grow vegetables and rear livestock as their main sources of income. Women grow vegetables in plots near the house for consumption but sometimes go to Dili to sell the surplus. They grow mixed crops – mustard, beans, eggplant, tomato, water spinach, green beans – they get about $100 per harvest from selling vegetables with two to four harvests each year. It only takes them about an hour each day to water their kitchen gardens as they are not large. Men cultivate black and white mustard as cash crops in fields further from the house, and sell the produce in larger quantities in Dili. The field crops take more work, and men have to haul water from the river to water them. Women help if they have time but are often busy with the household and children. Vegetables on the whole, are the most important contributor to household needs, followed by the rearing of livestock. Women rear chicken and pigs – chicken are mainly for consumption (min 2, max 10-15) but pigs (minimum two up to 4) are sold in the rainy season to cover household needs when vegetables are not in season. They buy young pigs for $40 to $50 and sell them for $200 – $250, usually two per year. Women can sell the pig from their house or men will take to market and sell for women. Men rear cows and horse – horses are for transport and cows are sold. Cows can fetch up to $500 and are sold for social obligations and education.

Women’s economic advancement is therefore tied to the advancement of the household economy, as is men’s. However, there are constraints to women making a greater economic contribution as discussed in the following sections on access to resources and opportunities, and women’s workload. Interestingly, while many households continue to indicate poverty attributes, there is often an intergenerational transfer of assets to ensure the well-being of children as they mature and enter the economic realm. In particular, we observed that education is a priority and parents will deprive themselves in order to send female and male children to school including university in Dili and Indonesia whenever possible.

Access to Opportunities and Life Chances We learned from our secondary research that time is a limiting factor for women (due to reproductive work) and they do not tend to operate businesses fulltime or all day. Therefore work tends to be homebased, low tech, conservative in growth / small-scale and part-time, and limits women’s opportunities to be integrated into dynamic market systems where greater income is possible. 72 This was supported by our interviews and focus group discussions. In fact, women emphasised that they preferred to stay at home to be with the children, and would rather not have to go to market or take on other responsibilities beyond the homestead. Secondary sources also report that because of gender discrimination, early marriage and large numbers of children per household, Timorese girls and women, especially in rural areas, do not have access to secondary and tertiary education. However, primary research showed that there is a move to much

State Secretary for the Support and Promotion of the Private Sector (2013) National Strategy and Action Plan for Gender and Private Sector 2014-2017, Timor-Leste. 72

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more education for girls and young women, with many being set not only to secondary school but also to university. Married women’s mobility is restricted due to time constraints and household responsibilities. At the same time, they have limited access to information, innovation and new technology since very few government or even civil society programs reach them. Women – and men – especially in rural areas, lack access to information on government actions and programs, market opportunities, suppliers, competitors, technologies, financing sources and on how to start and run a business. At the same time, women have a much lower rate of paid employment than men. Those who are employed are mostly found in low paying jobs and have not benefited equally from more recently created employment opportunities (with the Government, NGOs and the UN, for example).73 There are gender differences in networking behaviours as women’s networks tend to be smaller, more homogeneous and with less outreach. Women rely mostly on family and friends for support networks, proven to be less effective for business success than are business and professional networks. Constrained access to networks limits women’s economic development on many levels – access to services, finance, training and so on. Box 17

Access to Opportunities: Fatu Keru in Emera District, West Region – FGD #1

Women in Fatu Keru, while quite close to the market reported that they do not have access to new knowledge, skills, inputs or other supports. They observe in the market that others are growing better quality produce, but they do not know how to do this or where they can get the information. While they may buy fertilizer and seeds from the market, for example, they do not get information on how to use these inputs. The agricultural office can provide this information, but do not come to the village and provide training to women very often. The women reported that they were trained on mustard which was very helpful, but they need to know about other vegetables. They have received some training support from an NGO and continue to grow the same four crops: mustard, tomato, cabbage and lettuce. They do not know if others would do well in the market or how to grow them, but they expressed a strong interest in accessing such knowledge.

Access to Assets According to Timor-Leste law, an owner of property can write a will and leave his or her property to whomever he or she wishes. If there is no will, then assets must go first to spouse and dependents (if they exist) and are shared equally.74 Customarily, however, land ownership and assets belong to men with resources passed from father to son or other male family members with women having little right over land.75 Land ownership is further complicated by issues around titling of land and the upheavals over the past several decades. 76 This was not raised as an issue in the focus group discussions that we held, as the household functions as an economic unit. However, in cases of divorce or a woman becoming widowed, lack of access to land would have a negative impact on a woman’s ability to care for herself and her children. Lack of collateral, lack of literacy, poor business and management skills, and the favouring of larger businesses in the financial system combine to reduce women’s access to finance. Women clients of micro finance institutions usually access small loans (50 up to 1000 USD on average) to support their activities such as agricultural production and marketing. 77 In our focus group discussions, women did

Ospina, S.(2006) Participation of Women in Politics and Decision Making in Timor-Leste: A Recent History UNIFEM p 14 USAID/The Asia Foundation/Stanford Law School (n.d.) Introduction to the Laws of Timor-Leste: the laws of succession. 75 USAID (n.d.) Property Rights and Resource Governance: Timor-Leste. http://usaidlandtenure.net/sites/default/files/countryprofiles/full-reports/USAID_Land_Tenure_Timor-Leste_Profile.pdf 76 State Secretary for the Support and Promotion of the Private Sector (2013) National Strategy and Action Plan for Gender and Private Sector 2014-2017, Timor-Leste. 77 State Secretary for the Support and Promotion of the Private Sector (2013) National Strategy and Action Plan for Gender and Private Sector 2014-2017, Timor-Leste. 73 74

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reference Morris Rasik, and many appeared to have loans. However, these loans were limited to enterprise activities (e.g. kiosks, buying and selling coffee cherries) since repayment had to start immediately and continue on a weekly basis. There appear to be no loan products that are suitable for vegetable growing or livestock rearing that are better suited to balloon payments at the end of a set term. From our FGDs we learned that women lack assets that would contribute to reduced workload. Two key technologies that would go a long way to reduce work while increasing income are: 1. Micro-irrigation technologies for vegetable production – some women report up to seven hours a day to go to their vegetable plots and water their plants for meagre returns. This is partly due to the distance to the plots as well as the need to haul water from the river or taps. With appropriate micro-irrigation, women would be able to visit their plots once a day, and decrease watering time while there. When discussed with women, they indicated that with such a reduced workload, they would be able to plant and sell more vegetables, while others would be able to increase the number of harvests during the dry season. Water sources and types of micro-irrigation that could be available in Timor-Leste require further investigation but could be a significant game changer for many rural women and their main contribution to household incomes and well-being. 2. Post-harvest handling technologies are also lacking – technologies that could reduce workload, improve quality and increase incomes. For example, in coffee processing, many households sell green cherries to immediately access income, whereas selling dried coffee beans is more profitable. However, peeling and drying is labour intensive, and often only part of the harvest is processed at home. Some households have access to a ‘machine’ that can peel and dry the cherries and they are able to keep more of their harvest for processing, and even take it to Dili (rather than selling at the farm gate) to realise even greater returns. Mechanising coffee processing would reduce women’s workload and allow the household to earn more money at the same time. Costing and pricing for such machines – and other post-harvest technologies – could be explored and promoted by the program. In order to take advantage of such assets, access to finance issues must be understood and overcome. A discussion of access to finance is included later in this section.

Control over Income and Decision-Making Some reports indicate that increased income generation by women, for their families, does not appear to result in greater economic empowerment for women. The National Action Plan indicates that although in many cases women do the work, they lack control over the income generated and do not have decision-making power about the use of resulting income.78 It has also been suggested that in addition to economic activities, organisations must address gender relations in the community for women’s empowerment to be achieved.79 However, the Demographic and Health survey provides interesting statistics to the contrary with tables that indicate:

State Secretary for the Support and Promotion of the Private Sector (2013) National Strategy and Action Plan for Gender and Private Sector 2014-2017, Timor-Leste.p 11 79 Trembath, Grenfell and Noronha reported in Wigglesworth, A. (2012) Dreaming of a Different life: Steps towards Democracy and Equality in Timor-Leste. American Portuguese Studies Association. p.47 78

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    

36% of married women who receive cash earnings state that they decide themselves on how their earnings are used (tripling from 12% in 2003) 58% report that they decide jointly with their husband (decreased from 79%) 6% of those polled, down from 8% in 2003, report that their husband alone decides how their earnings will be used. 22% of men and 26% of women say that the wife mainly decides how the husband’s earnings are used. 75% men and 68% women say they jointly decide about how to spend the husband’s income.80

Our primary research supported this latter set of findings. Men and women reported that women manage the money and that men turn income they receive over to their wives. Decisions about spending tend to be made jointly, although women can decide on household expenditures without consulting their husbands. For example, if a woman goes to market and sells vegetables, she can make household purchases while there without discussion with her husband. On the other hand, a few households indicated that the male head of household might make some larger financial decisions such a buying a car or building a house (but usually we were told that it is a joint decision). The Demographic and Health Survey also reports that women’s roles in decision-making change based on decision being made, identifying four main decision types: more women decide about daily household purchases; while joint decisions are more likely around health care, major household purchases, and visiting family or relatives, women are more likely to decide jointly with their husbands.81 This was also echoed in our interviews and focus group discussions with women. Box 18

Household decision making – Central Region Suco Liurai in Alieu District – FGD #3

Women in the Suco Liurai in Alieu region explained their role in household decision making. They grow vegetables and sell the surplus in the nearby market, spending the proceeds on school, household necessities and seeds for the garden. When they are in the market, they decide what is needed, and make purchases without consulting their husbands. Whatever money she has left over, she will put it into the household pool, which she manages. Men turn over their earnings to their wives for management, but decision are jointly taken. Typically, women decide on household basics, but make joint decisions for schooling, social obligations and expenditures on agriculture. One woman admitted to hiding money from husband in case of emergency or visitors because if she didn’t hide the money, it would be spent on household items. At times, husbands take money for drinking – in fact, they might lie about why they need the money in order to get it and then buy alcohol. Overall, though, this is not a big issue and women admitted they also like to spend money on betel nut.

Women’s Workload Women suffer from the classic double burden of ‘reproductive’ and ‘productive’ work, reportedly logging many more hours than men when these are combined. 82 In the reproductive domain, women are responsible for a range of work: they bear and raise children, manage the household, collect firewood, help other women in childbirth, take care of the sick and elderly, and perform ceremonial and ritual roles. 83 This significantly impacts even very young women as there are high rates of teenage marriage, and these young women are expected to leave school to fulfil household tasks.84

National Statistics Directorate (2010) Timor-Leste Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Ministry of Finance p.204-206. 81 National Statistics Directorate (2010) Timor-Leste Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Ministry of Finance p 209 82 2007 Living Standard Survey reported in Hedditch S. and Manuel C. (2010) Timor-Leste Gender and Investment Climate Reform Assessment in Partnership with AusAID. International Finance Corporation. P. 5 83 Note also that ‘The very common practice of polygamy may undermine the position of women. Polygamy is an accepted practice although there is little data on its prevalence. Although it is not accepted by the formal law, it continues to be practiced and recognised by customary law. The practice of payment of bride price (barlaque) has also affected the status of women.’ Hedditch S. and Manuel C. (2010) Timor-Leste Gender and Investment Climate Reform Assessment in Partnership with AusAID. International Finance Corporation. P. 5 84 Wigglesworth, A. (2012) Dreaming of a Different life: Steps towards Democracy and Equality in Timor-Leste. 80

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It is frequently reported that women also contribute to ‘productive work’ by taking on the majority of unpaid agricultural work for the household, and by earning income from informal employment in paid agricultural labour, petty trading, and home-based production in traditional crafts and weaving85 as well as kitchen gardens, poultry,86 fishing and pig rearing. 87 While our findings agree that women have a range of activities and responsibilities, and work long hours, we would disagree with this characterisation of unpaid labour. Both men and women farmers are unpaid, until they sell their product, and then that income is pooled for household expenditures. There was little evidence that women did not benefit and that men controlled this income as discussed above. Also, it was noted in our interviews, that although women do work hard and long hours, men will contribute to ‘women’s work’. In a few of the interviews men were found at home taking care of the children while the women were away at the market or visiting family. Men also help women in the kitchen gardens (mainly preparing the land), and they take livestock to market if requested. So, although it is undoubtedly accurate that women have more and varied responsibilities – it is not one-sided. In fact, when one group was asked if they help in the fields they responded with a shrug ‘If we have time.’ Box 19

Snapshot of Men and women’s roles – West #6

This example illustrates that the role of men and women are not as clearly defined, as many claim. In fact, in the case of West #6, the husband is at home caring for the household while his wife is in the market selling vegetables (and does so throughout the vegetable season). It is unclear if this is a poverty coping strategy, and if the household were better off, the ‘reversed roles’ would continue. West #6 was observed to be very poor, attributable to the fact that they do not own land and they have eight people living in the household. They have been provided 1 ha of land by the church and they are able to make very good use of it – being self-sufficient in rice and vegetables, and still earning a net income of $1255 on the vegetables that they sell from 1 ha. They are able to achieve this by planting vegetables on the same land after they harvest the rice. They have no other source of income and the annual per capita income of the household is $156.88 or $0.43 per day, not including consumption of home-grown products. This household is progressive in their farming techniques (multi-cropping) and in the use of fertilizers and purchased seeds which would account for their good vegetable yields. They expressed interest in learning more about high value crops. However, rice yields are low (500 kg per hectare) and this may be in part because they use their own seeds and could likely benefit from improved techniques. They do suffer during the lean season and cannot afford to purchase food. As noted above, the cash income of the household is from the wife selling vegetables in the local market.

There are two time-consuming tasks that women must perform that seem unnecessarily burdensome (which are described in greater detail above under access to assets): 



Watering small plots of vegetables for up to seven hours a day: (that is up to an hour’s walk each way twice a day (four hours total), so two hours carrying water from the river in the morning, and one hour in the afternoon with the help of children after school). Manually peeling coffee cherries so that they can be dried and sold at a higher price as dried beans.

A third area where women work longer hours that they would prefer not to do is selling their produce in markets – for some women this can take from 0.5–2 hours per day, while for others it means a weekly trip and an overnight stay. Women explained that they go to the market because farm gate prices are much lower, traders don’t exist to buy at the farm gate, or traders come irregularly leading

American Portuguese Studies Association. p.36 85 Hedditch S. and Manuel C. (2010) Timor-Leste Gender and Investment Climate Reform Assessment in Partnership with AusAID. International Finance Corporation. P. vii 86Kyeema Foundation (2006) Poultry Newsletter Edition Six .pp. 8-9. http://www.kyeemafoundation.org/content/userFiles/file/news/eNewsletter8_Apr06.pdf 87 National Statistics Directorate General Directorate for Analysis and Research Ministry of Finance Timor-Leste (2012) Timor-Leste Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2011. P.32.

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to spoilage. If they had some type of regular buying arrangement (see next section), they would rather stay at home and invest more time in increasing production. Box 20

Women’s Workload – Umboa Suco, Ermera District – FGD #2

Women in Umboa Suco, Ermera District appeared to be poorer than in other sucos where focus group discussions took place – many were thinner and weather-worn, and they appeared to be illiterate with less understanding of our questions. Additionally, the amount of work that they undertook seemed to overwhelm them and they were not interested in additional income generating opportunities. As with many women in Timor-Leste, women in Umboa are responsible for child rearing and taking care of the home, cultivating vegetables, raising livestock and helping with cash crops and staples. Men help them with land preparation and in selling their livestock. Women help the men in the coffee plantation carrying out the weeding and harvesting. Women also travel to market to sell vegetables even though it is 45 minutes away, and it costs $5 per bag to transport their produce. However, if they wait at home for traders, there is no guarantee when they will come and the vegetables will spoil. Women were interested in learning more about vegetable production, and in accessing insecticides since they have a problem with pests pre-harvest. They would also like to have a regular buyer or a closer local market, so they did not have to spend so much time going to the market.

The following table summarises our findings with regards to women’s contribution and economic empowerment on a sectoral basis: Table 16 Sectoral Analysis Using the WEE Framework Framework Area of Focus

Vegetables

Rice

Coffee

Livestock

Economic advancement – increased income

Women are mainly responsible for vegetable production and marketing

Women contribute to rice production – particularly planting, harvesting and some weeding.

Women contribute to coffee production – particularly harvesting

Women are mainly responsible for small livestock rearing and farm gate sales

Access to opportunities and life chances such as skills development or job openings

Women receive some support from NGOs but no support from extension services

Extension services often target rice and the male members of the household

Extension services often target coffee and the male members of the household

Extension services often target large livestock and the male members of the household

Access to assets, services and needed supports to advance economically

Women grow vegetables on small plots for consumption; field crops are men’s domain

Field crops are men’s domain and they control assets, supported by women

Coffee is men’s domain and they control assets, supported by women

Veterinary services are sometimes available but inconsistently – there can be high incidence of poultry illness and death

Decision-making authority in different spheres including household finances

Women utilise money earned from vegetables for household expenditures – household money is pooled

Men sell rice and often give the money to women to manage with the household pool

Men sell coffee and often give the money to women to manage with the household pool

Women utilise money earned from livestock for household expenditures including education and social obligations

Manageable Workload

Production and marketing of vegetables contribute to women’s workload but men often take over at home to help out when women are working on the farm or at market.

Women assist men in the fields, and particularly add to their workload at times of harvesting and transporting the harvest.

Women assist men in the fields, and particularly add to their workload at times of harvesting

Livestock does not take much time and as such is a preferred livelihood activity but it takes investment of capital that is not available

Opportunities for MDF Despite the rather dire statements about women’s economic development in Timor-Leste, there appears to be opportunities for women especially in agricultural value chains, particularly in vegetable

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cultivation, livestock rearing, trading, and contributing to cash crops. Such opportunities are outlined in the table below. Table 17 Opportunity Analysis Using the WEE Framework Framework Area of Focus

Vegetables

Rice

Coffee

Livestock

Economic advancement – increased income

Women could increase income through better yields, expanded land cultivation (through time saving), and improved variety and quality of vegetables

Women are part of household unit and would benefit from increased income of the household; they would contribute to greater income if their own skills in postharvest handling were improved.

Women are part of household unit and will continue to benefit from increased income; greater income would result not only from increased yields, but also from the mechanisation of drying process and post-harvest handling

Women are mainly responsible for small livestock rearing and farmgate sales; if they could access livestock loans and veterinarian services, they would be able to increase incomes.

Access to opportunities and life chances such as skills development or job openings

Women would benefit from increased access to training on vegetables as well as access to information

Women would benefit from increased access to training on rice management and post-harvest handling

Women would benefit from increased access to training on coffee management and postharvest handling

Women would benefit from increased access to training on livestock management

Access to assets, services and needed supports to advance economically

Access to seeds, fertilizers, chemicals, land, labour saving devices particularly for irrigation would increase women’s outputs while decreasing their workload.

This is men’s domain and women do not access assets and services unless it is a women’s headed household.

Access to labour saving device for the mechanisation of drying coffee (which would also be more profitable for the household) would benefit women and their workload.

Access to veterinary services would reduce incidence of poultry illness and death with resulting increases in income

Decision-making authority in different spheres including household finances

Women would continue to utilise money earned from vegetables for household expenditures while other household money would be pooled

Men would continue to sell rice and give the money to women to manage with the household pool; women will continue to sell smaller amounts of rice when they go to market.

Men would continue to sell coffee and give the money to women to manage with the household pool

Women would continue to utilise money earned from livestock for household expenditures including education and social obligations

Manageable Workload

Women could save time through more efficient market linkages and labour saving devices (micro irrigation) made available through the private or public sector.

Not aware of any mechanisation that would reduce the harvesting workload of women; milling is already done by millers.

Mechanisation of drying process would free up time of women; women could access such technologies though the public or private sector.

Increased number of animals increases income without adding much to the workload of women; appropriate microfinance loans would be a benefit here

Timorese women are significant contributors to the household economy, and there is much more that they could do through practical means described above. At the same time, such activities will contribute to women’s empowerment and the well-being of their households.

Limitations beyond the Scope of MDF – Potential for Partnership As noted above, MDF is a market development project that focuses on increased incomes through partnerships with market actors, and an emphasis is on production and sales of agriculture products. However, in the case of gender, the work of MDF may be affected by issues in areas where it is not involved. The following are potential opportunities women’s economic empowerment that go beyond the scope of MDF.

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Access to finance From our secondary research we learned that there are two micro credit institutions operating in Timor-Leste, Morris Rasik and Tuba Rai Metin that are currently in the process of becoming Other Deposit Taking Institutions. In addition to credit, this will allow their clients to save, withdraw and do bank transfers. The intent is to help women and men entrepreneurs to grow their business through increased access to credit and diversified services. As yet, no business development services is offered around the financial services.88 Financial services are also available from credit unions, farmer saving associations, and wealthy individuals. The latter would likely come with very high interest rates or more opportunities for exploitation, especially for women borrowers.89 Inclusive Finance for Underserved Economy (INFUSE) is a project in Timor-Leste that provides loans, savings accounts and financial advice, INFUSE aims to provide more opportunities for the rural poor to earn income and save their earnings. INFUSE also works with the Government of Timor-Leste to develop a better policy and regulatory environment for providing financial services to the poor. At the end of 2012 the combined outreach of financial institutions with services targeted to the poor in Timor-Leste is 147,000 people accessing savings accounts and / or loans. From 2009 to the end of 2012 5,300 additional clients were registered with the local microfinance institutions directly supported by INFUSE; almost all of these were women.90 Our primary research indicated that although finance is available, it is not suitable for agricultural development as described above. Therefore, MDF may be able to work with the microfinance institutions and support the development of appropriate loan products to meet the needs of agricultural households for inputs, mechanisation and expansion of livestock rearing. Government extension services Women and men both reported that extension services are often lacking. When training and support has been received, households have taken advantage of these opportunities and have appreciated them. Therefore, if extension services could be standardised and expanded, this has the potential for huge impact in the lives of women and men smallholder farmers. MDF is engaged with the Ministry of Agriculture on this topic. A professionalisation of the service could promote greater commitment on the part of government employees to reach out and become more innovative in the delivery of sorely needed services. Women’s networking opportunities There is a general lack of networking opportunities for women in Timor-Leste. For example, Associação Empresarial das Mulheres de Timor-Leste- AEMTL was established in 2007, and has about 100 members, but one has to be a registered business to receive trainings and counselling (quality issues noted), with limited outreach to districts.91 However, women also appear to be hesitant to work together, form bulk buying and selling groups, and so on. Dialogue with appropriate ministries and NGOs working in women’s issues may encourage greater awareness of this stumbling block in agricultural advancement of women, and solutions may arise as the result of information exchange.

State Secretary for the Support and Promotion of the Private Sector (2013) National Strategy and Action Plan for Gender and Private Sector 2014-2017, Timor-Leste. p. 21/2 89 Mujaddid Moshin, personal communication, February 19, 2014. 90 http://aid.dfat.gov.au/countries/eastasia/timor-leste/Pages/rural-development-init6.aspx 91 State Secretary for the Support and Promotion of the Private Sector (2013) National Strategy and Action Plan for Gender and Private Sector 2014-2017, Timor-Leste. p 23-25 88

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Enabling environment Government is reportedly working towards increased opportunities for women â&#x20AC;&#x201C; mainly policy and enabling environment level including access to finance, business development services, easier registration of businesses.92 In the rural areas, participation in local governance presents an opportunity for young women. There are now quotas for representation on the Suco (village) Council including two women and a female and male youth representatives. The young woman representative on each Suco Council represents young women in the community. Women who take up elected or representational roles on local councils gain increased respect and contribute to an increasing acceptance of womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public role if they are able to make an effective contribution.93

State Secretary for the Support and Promotion of the Private Sector (2013) National Strategy and Action Plan for Gender and Private Sector 2014-2017, Timor-Leste. 93 Wigglesworth, A. (2012) Dreaming of a Different life: Steps towards Democracy and Equality in Timor-Leste. American Portuguese Studies Association. p.48 92

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Annex 1: Household Narratives Central, Eastern and Western Region

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Narratives from the Central Region Central Interview #1 Code

District

Aileu

Suco

Malere

Family size

10 family members fully supported

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

6 ha

Sources of income

Vegetables: sells $50 worth vegetables every month for 12 months= $600; Coffee: Sells $60 worth of coffee a year= $60; Pension: $360 a year = $360; Livestock= variable income   

2013= $1200 for two buffaloes 2012= $700 for one buffalo 2010= $1200 for two buffaloes

Costs: Hand tractor costs $10 Total Annual Net Income

$1010 (with livestock sold as needed to make up for any shortfall would be $2,210)

Income per capita per day

$0.27 without livestock ($0.60 from selling two animals)

Crop Yields

Not available for vegetables; Rice: 4–5 large cement bags / 1.5 ha Maize: 20 big bunches / 1.5 ha Coffee: 5–10, 30 kg rice bags of berry / 1.5 ha

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice and vegetables

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

Only buys 4–5 crops of 25 kg rice bags when guests turn up unexpectedly

Main Markets Sold

Aileu

Household Expenses

Food (Meat, fish, potatoes and salt and others): $40 a month; Support costs for brothers in Dili: $25 a month for nine months for two brothers= $450; Education: $130 per semester for two semesters a year for two brothers= $520 and $2.5 for nine months for one student plus $10 building costs= $32.5; Traditional / sociocultural needs: $200; Clothing: $100; Usually monthly expenses go up to $100 a month.

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1300

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.35

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The family is doing well with large plots of land. They do get a lot of support from MAF and development programs such as CARE (hand tractor) and labour groups, even then, they do not get as much as they could from their farm. Overall, education is a priority for the family and has multiple members enrolled in university. However, the family can benefit a lot more from intensive farming and access to Dili markets or major buyers.

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Household Details  

  

Elderly parents living with two sons. All household matters are managed by the eldest son who lives in a different house nearby. The house was concrete and all other houses of the family members living nearby were also concrete. Two of the brothers study in the university. All the other members (especially the children of the eldest son) attend school. The heads of the household (father and mother) have had no schooling. They have no television or radio however they have electricity supply and a mobile phone. Their land is separated into four large plots of 1.5 hectares each. Coffee, vegetable and rice plots were separate. The last plot was used to intercrop maize with other staples. The family does not experience any hungry season as they grow enough for the family and earn enough money from the sales proceeds.

Aspirations for Children  

The heads of the household have had no schooling. The eldest son and every other member of the household has had some education or is currently enrolled in school / university. The eldest son wants to send all his children to university. The biggest challenge in that would be financial. He would like his children to get a job and help with farming when possible.

Sources of Income 

 



The heads of the household do not work as they are too old. The mother of the house gets senior pension which she uses to help the household with purchases and spends the rest on her sons to go to university. The eldest son does the primary farming activities in the household. All other members also help with farming. They do not have any or have had any jobs outside of the farms. The mother gets old age pension of $30 a month paid out every six months. She collects the pension herself and has full control over the money. The family has no other contribution from church, NGOs, remittance, etc. Money is paid every six months ($180) and she spends $80 of it on household expenses and $100 for the two children in university. Vegetable is the cash crop for the family which helps to make the most money and regularly. Rice and other crops are used for self-consumption. The coffee productions is inconsistent and does not make much money. Even if it does it would be once a year. Income: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗



Vegetables: sells $50 worth of vegetables every month for 12 months= $600 / year Coffee: Sells $60 worth of coffee a year= $60 / year Pension: $360 a year Livestock: variable income 2013= $1200 for two buffaloes 2012= $700 for one buffalo 2010= $1200 for two buffaloes

The family has five animals left. Seems like they sell animals whenever they need money for anything such as house construction / maintenance or education or anything that comes up.

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Farming Activities and Income Most of the lands owned by the household are flat with the coffee plantations upland. Vegetables: ˗ ˗

˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

Sells approximately $50 worth of vegetables every month. The head of the household sells the produce in the market by himself to small businessmen from Dili on Wednesday and Saturday markets. Green and white mustard are most profitable. Uses seed from MAF extensionist who provide seeds for maize, vegetables and rice. However he has never nor does he ever receive any training or advice from MAF and is facing huge problems with insects. The farmer uses manure as fertiliser and has no access to insecticides. Sufficient information on yield was not shared. Maize Rats and chicken pose major problems during and post cultivation period. He gets only 20 big bunches from 1.5 hectares of mixed crop.

˗ ˗ ˗

4–5 very large cement bags (imported cement bags) of paddy a year He buys 4–5, 25 kg rice bags a year mainly for guests. He has a relative who owns a mill and he spends $1 milling 25 kg of rice from that miller.

Does not know how much he grows as the entire crop is consumed by the family.

In a good year he produces 10 (30 kg) bags of rice worth of berries. In a bad year the bag number drops to only 5. The price he gets is 0.20 cents for a kg of berry. He sells to whoever shows up but mostly to NCBA / CCT or Timor Global. Prices are too low and coffee cultivation is not worth processing any further. According to his brother the coffee crop is not enough to sustain any family so most households in the area grow vegetables and other things to supplement coffee income. In 2012 he made only $60 from coffee plantation. In 2013 the crop was so bad that they just drank it all.

˗ ˗

Rice:

Beans: Coffee:

˗ ˗ ˗ 



The farmer does not use any labour but he is part of labour group through which they share the labour needs from farm to farm, by working on each other’s farm if required. He wants MAF to share information on cultivation along with the supply of free inputs to maximise outputs. If MAF does not provide seeds, they use transplants. They rent a hand tractor which costs $10.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses The household is self-sufficient in rice and vegetables. They only buy rice when they have guests visiting unannounced and when they do not have time to manage milling of the rice. Major expenses per year:      

Food (Meat, fish, potatoes and salt and others): $40 a month Support costs for brothers in Dili: $25 a month for nine months for two brothers= $450 Education: $130 per semester for two semesters a year for two brothers= $520 Education: $2.5 for nine months for one student plus $10 building costs= $32.5 Traditional needs: $200 Clothing: $100

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Total expense= $1300

Opportunities The farmer owns a lot of land so can do better with more intensive farming. Market Access Very close to the city of Aileu so does not face any problem selling vegetables in the market. Moreover, he has easy access to both Wednesday and Saturday markets.

Section on Gender Interview of the male household member on gender relevant questions 

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Women’s main role is to cook, clean, take care of children and elders and help with planting vegetables. Husband will only help if the wife is too busy with planting or taking care of other things in the household. Firewood is collected by the husband while the wife is responsible for collecting water and taking care of the kitchen garden. The husband is the final decision maker. The husband is not happy with wife going out of the house to work. The husband thinks only men can work and women should stay back and take care of the house. Thus in this household the wife does not go outside of the house to work or own a business. In fact the husband does not want the wife to own a business. He thinks farming is the only way a woman can make any money.

Central Interview #2 Code

District

Aileu

Suco

Seloi Kraik

Family size

7 members in the household

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

0.31 ha

Sources of income

Cabbage: 100 heads twice a year at 50 cents a head= $100; Mustard= 80 bunches per month for nine months at 50 cents per bunch= $360 Coffee: four (25 kg) rice sacks at 0.40 cents per kg= $40; Bread= $2.5 net profit per week for 5two weeks= $130 (possibly up to $234 per year if sell average $7 per week) Costs: Inputs= $12 for cabbage and $2 for fertilizer= $14

Total Annual Net Income

$668

Income per capita per day

$0.26

Crop Yields

Cabbage: two times a year @ 100 heads a time / 8m2 Black / white mustard: 40 to 50 bunches (of five heads each) per month / 8m2 Cucumbers: six cucumbers; Coffee: four sacks of 25kg rice sacks of berries / 0.03 ha Maize: 25 kg rice sack of maize (shelled); Beans: one sack of 25 kg rice sack (shelled); Rice: 2, 185 kg drums of paddy / 0.25 ha

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Vegetables: yes Rice: no (only five months-worth of rice is produced)

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Code

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

Buys rice for seven months @ one sack (25kg) a week – every week – 28 sacks per year (700kg)

Main Markets Sold

Local, Aileu, Dili

Household

Expenses94

Food= $10 a month for 12 months= $120; Rice= four times a month for seven months @ $12 a 25kg rice sack (MTCI)= $336; Support costs for daughter= $10 a month for 12 months= $120; Traditional tributes= $100;

Total Annual Household Expenses

$676

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.26

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions Poor household but doing better than others in the area because of relatively small family. The family has sufficient rice for half the year which saves a lot of money for them but they suffer from a lack of market connectivity as evident by the lack of sales of certain vegetables. Among the family members, the wife is very active in farming, trading and baking. However husband is not sure if he thinks that baking is worth it. Overall, the household has knowledge of input usage and can potentially be convinced to do more. Household Details 

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The family lives into the bush that is quite secluded from the secondary road by about 100 metres. The house is poorly built and situated within a garden which seemed to be designed to grow as many things as the family could consume. There is a water tower nearby which makes water readily accessible for the family and the garden. The family does not have any television or radio and owns only one clothes cupboard and a mobile phone. The wife of the head of the household was in the market selling mustard and bread. The family has 0.3 hectares of land most of which is flat. However they are all rain fed. As the plots of land are close to water sources, the household is able to do dry season farming by manually carrying water to the field. The head of the household does not have any education but his wife attended school until 11th grade. All the children are in school with the eldest daughter moving to Dili to do a training course (could not share more on this) after completion of her 12th grade schooling in Aileu. The daughter stays with the older brother of the head of the household in Dili and is supported with cash when possible or food (vegetables and rice). The ages of children do not always match up with the school grades they are in, suggesting interruption in schooling i.e. the kids were taken out of school at times of difficulty. The household can barely make ends meet with the head of the household sometimes having to borrow money from family and friends. He then has to repay the debt by selling his vegetables. He uses the borrowed money to buy rice for the family. He usually borrows during the hungry season (which apparently is one week in a year). He sometimes cannot borrow money for rice at which point he consumes cassava to make up for the lack of rice. The household rotates consumption of staples between rice, maize, cassava, beans and sweet potato. This way they can keep the variety and ensure longer period of rice supply.

Without traditional events expenses run to about $100 per month for the whole household.

56 | Market Development Facility

Aspirations for Children The head of the household wants his children to study all the way and even try to go overseas. He wants his children to study and get out of farming as he thinks farming is a harder life than working at an office. However the chief impediment for him was cash and that lack of cash can take a child out of school. Sources of Income 

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The head of the household and his wife are the primary bread winners of the house. The children (who are in the house) are too small to help with farming. Their main source of income is farming (vegetables and mixed staple crops), working on other farms as labour and selling produce and bread in the local markets (mainly done by the wife). He wants to have more non-farm jobs but he does not see the opportunity. He thinks that he can only get jobs through networks. Otherwise it is hard to get a call from another person’s farm. He does not look actively either but waits for other people to call him (which could be why he does not always know about job opportunities). In 2012 he apparently only worked one day on another person’s farm and zero number of days in 2013. The family does not get any payouts from the government, NGOs or the church. They get some help with rice once in a while from family and friends in Dili (usually one 25kg bag of rice a year). The family makes approximately $440 from sale of cabbage, mustard and coffee annually and another $130–236 from sale of bread by the wife to the local market (usually during market days). Their total annual income is approximately $670 mainly from farming. The household also engages in buying mustard from other families and selling them to the market, however they are not sure how much mustard they sell through this method. The head of the household does not think that baking is a good way to make money as he thinks his wife has to spend a lot of time. The bread needs five bags of flour (5kgs) at $0.5 a kg. Every Friday she buys five bags for $2.5 a time, and gets $5-$10 a week from the sale of bread. However, she has to spend three hours preparing the bread (kneading the dough, resting and baking) before she can sell it to the market. She also has to do this by waking up really early in the morning. Although the husband said she only sells in the weekly markets, when we went back to interview her, we learnt that she was in the market i.e. on a non-market day. This makes us think that she may sell more bread than is reported. She spends the money on clothes, food, shoes and education.

Farming Activities and Income 



The household has 0.3 ha of land on which they grow vegetables (cabbage, mustard, cucumber, and white pumpkins), maize, beans, sweet potatoes, cassava and taro (intercropped), rice and coffee. The rice and coffee plots are planted over separate plots of land, while the vegetable plots are rotated between the different types of vegetables planted by the farmer. The husband and wife both work on the plots. The children are too young to help and if they do, they do so only after they come back from school. Vegetables: Vegetables are grown as cash crops while rice and maize and others are grown only for food / own consumption. Rice is a major staple so farmer eats it instead of buying. Maize is not traded locally as most farmers have a maize plot. Cabbage: this is grown once every six months in two harvests annually. The plot size is 8m by 1m and each time they get 100 heads of cabbage which is sold for $0.50 a head. Insects are a problem for cabbages in the field. They have two similar size plots for cabbages. Usually

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sold in the market, however sometimes they cannot sell all as the cabbages are harvested all at the same time, driving prices very low. The cabbages the farmer brings back is not all consumed. For example, out of 10 brought back, two can be consumed while the others are fed to pigs as the cabbages are too rotten by then. There are times when the cabbage is completely wasted and is not even suitable for animals to eat. He buys seeds for cabbage: $12 for one pack of seeds (enough for two to three seasons). He uses fertilizer for all his vegetables (only 2 kg of black and white mix which costs $1 per kg). The seeds and fertilizer are usually purchased from the Aileu market where the retailer is able to share usage information. Mustard: Mustard is planted on a separate 8m by 1m plot and are harvested almost monthly (except for the height of the rainy season). The farmer grows both white and black mustard. Each bunch is made of five mustard heads and are sold for $0.5 a bunch. Each month the farmers harvest 40 to 50 bunches of each type of mustard. Mustard is seen as the regular cash crop. The big ones are sold to the market while the small ones are consumed at home by the family or sent to Dili to the daughter. Same as in cabbage, they sometimes have difficulty selling, at which point they have to bring it back home and spoil most of it as they have no way to store it. He uses fertilizer bought for all vegetables. He uses seeds from last harvest. Cucumber: usually only for home consumption although when need there is need for cash, he will sell whatever he can. Last year he sold six cucumbers for a dollar. Hardly a cash crop. Uses seed from past seasons. White pumpkins: Not for sale because everybody in the area has it (although the crop has huge demand in hot climates such as Dili or other districts). Since there is no local demand, the farmer eats as much as he can and then feeds the rest to pigs. Beans and maize are intercropped on the same plot. He gets one rice sack (25 kg labelled rice sack) of beans annually which would be approximately 27 kg of beans. Coffee: Coffee plot is 20m by 15m (est. 0.03 ha) and exclusively for coffee. The household gets approximately four sacks of 25 kg rice sacks of coffee berries for which they get approximately $0.4 a kg. The buyer comes right to his farm to pick it and they usually come from Ermera or Aileu. He will sell to whoever comes to him first. Maize: Farmer uses own seed and grows maize only for food. He gets 1, 25 kg rice bag of maize (shelled). Rats eat a lot of the maize and also weevils. Rice: He grows rice in a quarter hectare of land and he gets 2 X 185 litre drums of paddy. He does not have any problem with wastage as he eats the rice regularly. He thinks the rice is enough for covering consumption for 4–5 months. He uses his own seeds for cultivation and uses hand tractors ($7 for his quarter hectare plot of land). He does not use any other inputs. For staples, the men plough and prepare the land while the women help with planting and harvesting. He does not get any information / service from MAF. He has to go through the Chefe Suco (Chief of the Village) to request MAF support. He has made several requests but has not seen any results. He does not hire any labour for the family farm as their own efforts suffice. Did not report any major cultivation issues apart from insects and heavy rain. Does suffer from storage problems which cause him to lose maize and beans to rats. Total Inputs= $12 for cabbage and $2 for fertilizer= $14

Self Sufficiency and Expenses  

The household is self-sufficient in vegetables and never buys from the market. The household produces enough rice (2, 185 kg drum of paddy) for 4–5 months. The rest of the time he buys a bag of rice a week for seven months.

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The household consumes all the maize, cassava and taro and beans produced on farm. They rotate the food so as to reduce pressure on rice in the year. The household purchases rice, salt, oil and MSG from the market. Market is too far for buying meat regularly. They only eat meat when an animal dies or is slaughtered in the area. The prices for meat ranges from $5–10. Major expenses are food, education, clothes and traditional ceremonies. Major expenses: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

Food= $10 a month for 12 months= $120 Rice= four times a month for seven months @ $12 a 25kg rice sack (MTCI)= $336 Daughter support cost= $10 a month for 12 months= $120 Traditional tributes= $100 Total expense= $676

Opportunities 

 

The farmer thinks growing more vegetables is the best way to earn more money. However he is suffering from issues with connectivity to markets. For example, he is unable to sell white pumpkins and is having to feed them to pigs despite high demand in low land areas such as Dili or in the south. He thinks increasing land size is the only way to get more money but does not consider intensification. He loses a lot of produce to waste, either because of bringing back from market due to no sale or loss to rats.

Market Access 

 

The farmer wants to sell his harvest to Dili because of better prices. He currently only can go to the nearest market and does so by foot (in fact both times we visited the household the wife was in the market and not the husband). He sells cabbage locally but mustard is sold in Dili sometimes. He does not want to sell in Aileu because there are many sellers of the same product. In the dry season he finds it easier to go to Dili. His house has electricity and access to mobile phones. Prices: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

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Cabbage: $0.5 a head Mustard: $0.5 for a bunch of five heads of mustard Cucumber= $1 for 6 Coffee: $0.4 per kg of coffee

The market is buyer dominated. Also, in local markets all similar products come to the market at the same time, causing an excess in supply which causes the prices to plummet. As people are desperate for cash, they often sell the products at any price they can get which means, sometimes cabbages can go as low as 15 cents per head. If the products are unsold, then they have to bring it back, where due to storage issues, most of it gets spoiled.

Section on Gender Interview of the male household member on gender relevant questions 

The wife is mainly responsible for washing, cleaning, cooking, taking care of the children etc. But as a husband he wants to help when needed. For example, when the wife is in the market, husband stays at home.

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Men apparently are mainly responsible for farming, rice farming, maize farming, land preparation, ploughing etc. Wife does cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children, taking care of elders every day of the week with the husband helping once in a while. Water is collected by the children as the water source is close by. Firewood is collected by the men. The husband said the wife controls all the money in the family. Wife and husband maintain a joint account which the wife controls. The decisions around spending needs be run by the wife. During both visits to the household the wife was in the market. Seeing as how the wife was farming, trading and baking, she seemed to be the economically dominant one. Wife can work in other people’s farms when work is available. She sells vegetables in local market as well as in Dili. The only task the wife cannot do is build houses. The husband thinks that farming for vegetables is the way to make more money for women. He thinks baking bread and selling is hard work and not worth it as they get little money for a lot of work and inconvenience. They do not have any savings. Wife also buys mustard from other farmers, and sells to the market. Not sure of the amount though.

Central Interview #3 Code District

Ainaro

Suco

Maubisse

Family size

12 [12 in household totally supported in full or in part]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

0.28 ha

Sources of income

Coffee: $75 Pension: $360 Odd jobs: $40 Barter of coffee: $37.5 Poultry sales: $20 Beans $30 Maize $35 Costs $3 for seeds; $10 for food for labour groups

Total Annual Net Income

$585

Income per capita per day

$0.13

Crop Yields

Coffee: 300kg / 0.27 ha Maize: four sacks of 35 kg rice sacks (of cobs); Soy: two sacks of 35 kg rice sacks; Beans: two sacks of 35 kg rice sacks.

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Vegetables for four months out of the year. Maize, soy and beans are consumed throughout the year to supplement rice consumption.

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

$2 a day every day for eight months on vegetables= $480 1 bag or rice (25kg) for every week of half the year

Main Markets Sold

Maubisse

Household

Expenses95

Education: $2 a month for six children for 10 months= $120; Traditional events: $350 for buffalo in 2013;

Traditional expenses can be paid off in installments: she paid the buffalo off in seven payments of $50.

60 | Market Development Facility

Code

13 1 bag or rice (25kg) for every week of half the year at $17.5 a bag= $42096; $2 a day every day for eight months on vegetables= $480; $140 for social obligations. Bartered coffee for food $37.5

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1548

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.35

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The household did not look very well and tidy. The wife as well as the children were looking very pale and showed signs of malnutrition. The mother especially looked frail, possibly from having to deal with so many children. They did not have very much land and the land also did not seem so suited for agriculture. They did not use / have cash to buy inputs which may explain why they were getting so little from their land. They also did not get very much coffee, which although very low intensity, was hard work once a year but gave them nothing substantial back. The wife was more educated than the husband but did not do anything other than spending most of her time taking care of the household and her many children, which meant she had no time to spend on other things. She recognised farming vegetables and baking as financially lucrative options but did not have any time to pursue any of these. She also did not seem to be aware of too many opportunities in the area to earn more income. She had to ask permission from her husband to spend money. The husband apparently made a lot of visits to Dili or outside of town. Given the discrepancy between income and expenditure figures, it is likely that the husband does do more work outside of town to make sure that the family is taken care of. The other possibility of course is that the family is underestimating their income. There are not too many opportunities seen in the area apart from helping the woman earn more while being at home (such as more productive vegetable farming or baking). Household Details 

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The household is very large with a lot of very young children as well as young siblings of the mother of the household living together, one of whom is mentally challenged. The household head is educated till grade 6. However, his wife has education till grade 12. She still does not work and probably spends most of her time taking care of the many children. The house of the family is very basic and run down in appearance, although very close to the main road leading into Maubisse town. They have a television and an old clothes cupboard. They own three plots of land, two for coffee and one serving as a homestead garden comprised of mixed crops of maize, soy, and regular beans. Two plots are flat while one plot of land is on a steep slope. None of the plots are irrigated. The head of the household was not in during the interview, supposedly visiting relatives in Dili. The mother had her hands full, taking care of the many children. Apparently this is also the reason why she cannot look for another job or has not been able to develop her skills. However, the mother enjoys growing vegetables and wants to grow more to sell however she is waiting for her children to grow up a bit more.

They also have maize and soy and beans which they consume. In other places we saw a rotation of consumption which is probably the case here. 96

Market Development Facility | 61

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There apparently is never enough food in the family so they have to rely on relatives and neighbours. During lean times (which is most of the year), the parents eat less and give more food to the children. Education is a priority, so children are not taken out of school, and all necessary steps are taken to ensure it stays that way The family has enough money for the month with agriculture paying for most of the bills. However they are unclear on how much they make from farming. They have a much clearer idea about what they have to buy each year.

Aspirations for Children The family would want to send all her children to university if possible. The wife’s main concerns are cash available for education as well as diseases (sick children having to miss school). She wants her children to become good people who are clever. She wants to force them to study and read so that they can get there. Sources of Income 

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The main sources of income for the family are farming, odd jobs, old age pension (from the mother in law) and sale of animals (although not clear about how much they make from farming or sales of animals). Farming is mostly done by the husband and the wife with the eldest daughter helping out when she is back from school. The brothers of the wife do not help with farming at all. They study but their age is not corresponding with the grades that they are in. They have never had a waged job, except for occasional semi-skilled work as labourer or plumber (no vocational training). The family got approximately $200 from coffee in 2012 and $100 in 2013 and $40 a year from odd jobs such as construction. They make a further $20 from sale of poultry (a big chicken can go for $20 while a small one goes for $5). This income is supplemented by $360 of old age pension ($30 a month collected by the mother in law and put towards the household). This pension was last received in December 2013. She keeps $100 for her personal use and contributes $260 towards the household. Main priorities are children education, seeds (when they do not have enough; about $3 worth a year) and other household expenditures. They do not have any other source of income (although they may have underestimated their income as their expenditures are far higher than the income and they said that they are able to pay for all this through selling crops.

Farming Activities and Income 

 

The family has 0.28 hectares of land of which 0.27 is for coffee and 0.01 is for mixed cropping of beans, maize and soy (mainly for home consumption but available for sale when they are desperate). On the mixed plot, they grow 50% maize and 50% beans with a little bit of soy interspersed. They carry out this type of farming as per tradition (what they have done for years and years). Coffee: main farmers are the husband and the wife with the children helping out with harvesting when they are back from school. The mother in law can help but as she is old, she can only help when she can. They do not use any inputs and only do weeding. They get approximately 300kg (80kgs from first plot and 220 kg from the second plot). They sell 200 kg to CCT primarily (because of reputation) and trade another 100 kg for oil and salt

62 | Market Development Facility

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but mostly rice (trading 100kg of coffee for 2, 35 kg bag of rice; one 50kg coffee sack trades for 1, 35kg sack of rice). They keep a further 20kg for own use. Spoilage is not usually an issue as they harvest and sell / trade. However the beans that they keep see significant spoilage (up to 60%). They want to sell to whoever buys from them but mainly CCT as they think the company is good. They get 35 to 40 cents per kg from CCT. CCT sets the price and the sellers have to go with it. The household would want to sell the berries for 80 cents to $1 per kg. CCT comes and collects the berries from the collection points which is very close to the household and they do it in their trucks. There is no issue with selling however the household also does not plan a sale (they harvest when the berries are there and sell when they can). Coffee harvesting is hazardous as the slopes can be very slippery and otherwise physically demanding. Maize / Soy / Beans: This is also done mainly by the husband and the wife with the children helping. They use their own seeds and no other inputs. This is done on a 10x10 m plot. Sometimes when they do not have their own seeds even the mother-in-law helps with buying 200 gm of seeds of each (maize, soy and beans) for $1 a glass. Beans: two sacks of 35kg rice sacks Maize: four sacks of 35 kg rice sacks (cobs not shelled) Soy: two sacks of 35 kg rice sacks. They are mostly for home consumption however in times of need, the family can also sell the beans. Last year they sold one sack for $30. They do not know how much is annually wasted, because it is so little and they finish the crop before long. Vegetables cannot be traded for rice as most people in the area grow vegetables. The beans and others are sold to businessmen in the nearby market in Maubisse town. However the prices are set by the businessmen with the farmers having little or no control over this. If the farmers do not agree, the businessmen walk away and the farmer has to bring the crops back. Maize is sold sometimes for a sack (35 kg) going for $35 to $45. This is done when the family needs money. She sells mainly to Maubisse market and has to carry her produce manually (with her children helping). She has no issues with selling but because it is physically challenging, she gets tired. She does not use any fertilizer or seeds unless she has to buy other people’s retained seeds from the market. Seed retailers are usually farmers who have an excess of grains. Only buy $3 for seeds if any. They do not hire labour. Both the husband and wife are part of labour groups. They work as a group and by turns on other people’s land as is needed. Usually they do not need too much additional labour as the plot sizes are usually too small. They do not pay the labour groups but provide $10 worth of food and coffee. They do not have any equipment for farming except for basic things such as a stick. They have no support from MAF. CCT provides extension services for their coffee plantations as well as help with taking out old plants in the plantation. However their harvests are small and worsening.

Market Development Facility | 63

Self Sufficiency and Expenses  

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The family never has enough to eat with the adults eating less to compensate for this. They have maize, soy and beans for own consumption however when they need cash they can and do sell it. The family is self-sufficient for vegetables only four months out of the year when their garden provide them with this. In other times they spend up to $2 a day buying vegetables. They only buy fish or meat when they have money (which is not much). They sell poultry when they can, to buy rice or spend on other needs. They do not budget or plan and has no capacity to save. Their major expenses are for rice, education and traditional events. ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

Education: $2 a month for six children for 10 months= $120 Traditional events: $350 for buffalo in 2013 $2 a day every day for eight months on vegetables= $480 1 bag or rice (25kg) for every week of half the year at $17.5 a bag= $42097 $140 for social obligations.

Opportunities They can earn more money through cultivating more vegetables or baking bread at home to sell at the local market. However she has no time after taking care of the household and her many children. The husband can do more non-wage jobs in other people’s houses or business (semi-skilled jobs) or more vegetable farming as that clearly has more prospects than coffee farming. They are open to doing anything for an income however opportunities are limited. Market Access 

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The family lives by the market in Maubisse town. They get to the market by foot and go mainly for buying and selling. They go several times a week as they are so close to the market. They have no cell phone but apparently the husband will buy one during his visit to Dili. The household does not have any kitchen utensils or agriculture equipment. The wife cannot spend any money without asking for permission.

Section on Gender Interview of the female member of the household 

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Her main roles are taking care of the household and doing it daily (cooking and cleaning to farming). However the farming apparently does not take a long time (considering the low intensity nature of it). Her husband does not dictate how she spends time as long as household duties are completed. Given her long list of duties, it would not be surprising if she had no time outside of her duties. She does not have any control over the finances and has to ask permission from husband for expenditures. She always has to ask permission for spending joint money. If she can save a little of her own money (through selling crops once in a while), she can keep it to herself. However she needs to spend most of her money on household items. The husband is the final decision maker on the purchase of most things. The wife has the ability to consult with husband on education, social obligations and church donations.

They also have maize and soy and beans which they consume. In other places we saw a rotation of consumption which is probably the case here. 97

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The wife is not paid for any of her jobs such as farming, selling and trading. The wife only sells crops while only the husband can sell animals. The wife also is not able to sell crops outside of the town, possibly because of her large number of young children. Women apparently do not own many businesses. It is not prohibited but no timing or training to do so. If time permits, they can own businesses. There are apparently no examples of a successful woman owned business in the area. Women cannot climb trees. The wife suffers from severe time poverty. Wants to do more to earn an income but has no time to do so. They can earn more money through farming or baking. However they must give over their income to their husbands. She can save a little from the gifts she receive from others or from limited sale of crops. The husband does not know about savings from crops but know of gifts. Either case, as long as the majority of this savings go towards the household, the husband is happy. There is no long-term saving. There are no business development agencies or microfinance institutions in the area.

Central Interview #4 Code

District

Ainaro

Suco

Mulo

Family size

8 in household [8 totally supported in full or in part (though 11 listed as family members (some are even living / working outside)]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

2 ha

Sources of income

Farming: Cabbage: $500 to $700; Carrots: $100; Beans: $120; Mustard: $130. Remittance: $600; Pension: $360; Scholarship: $60. Consumption of own vegetables and maize. Costs: Inputs= $112; Transport: $150;

Total Annual Net Income

$1708

Income per capita per day

$0.58 (counting eight household members supported by the family).

Crop Yields

Cabbage: 1000 to 1400 heads Carrots: 10 sacks of 60 kg sacks; Beans: four sacks of 35 kg sacks Mustard: 16,250 heads and Maize: 5–10 sacks of 25 kg sacks.

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Vegetables and maize

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

Purchases 4, 25kg bags a month for eight months

Main Markets Sold

Local suco market, Maubisse market, Dili market

Market Development Facility | 65

Code

Household Expenses98

Rice: $560 ($17.5 per 25kg sack for four sacks a month for eight months) Meat: $2.5 per week= $130 Education: $8 per month for nine months for two children= $144 Traditional= $1000.99

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1834

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.62

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The family understood that vegetables are the major cash crop for them. They also understood that Dili is the market for them to get better prices. However transportation seems to be the biggest problem. Education is a priority but ages and corresponding grades that the children belong to suggest interruptions. Traditional ceremonies are the cause of the main uncertainties in the family and can run to huge expenses (wiping out savings even). Remittances are also a major part of their incomes. Without remittances they may be hard pressed to maintain their current standard of living, even without having to pay for traditional ceremonies. The household is run by a female which allows for more financial control currently. However, not sure if this privilege will be extended to other female members of the family. As vegetables are seen as the principal cash crop, effort could be made to influence the family to use more inputs thus to get more out of their land than they do now. Also, as they use inputs and have been influenced into input usage by seeing other farmers, a demonstration of good cultivation practices could be useful to improve their farming practices. However, most important would be to link the household to markets. With more sales, the family not only earns more income but also can be convinced to invest more in inputs. This could be done through specialist traders, or logistics agencies (trucks who bring products into suco kiosks and carry out products produced in the suco). Household Details 

  



98 99

This is a female headed household (widow) engaged in farming of vegetables and some staples (maize, beans and potatoes). The location allows for a number of vegetables to be grown there. The oldest son of the household is based in Dili and sends back money regularly to support the family in the suco. The eldest son has his own family staying with him in Dili. We believe another sister lives outside of the household and runs a kiosk (40 years old) but does not contribute money separately. The rest of the household, those living in the house, consists of: elder widow (60); male (28); female (17); male (14); male (19); male (25); female (42); female (12). It is not clear which are children and which are siblings. Most of the children go to school. The sisters of the head of the household also live with them (probably just one, as kiosk owner did not appear to live in the household in the end). However there is discrepancy between ages and the corresponding school grades suggesting interruption in schooling for the individuals.

Without traditional events expenses run to about $100 per month for the whole household. In 2013, uncle died which meant buy a buffalo for $850. Then another uncle died for which they had to give $150 in cash.

66 | Market Development Facility

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 

The house has a wood / tin / other materials walls and concrete floors. They do not own a radio but have radio applications in their mobile phones. They also have two clothes cupboards. Their land is split up in four equal-sized plots of which most are highland with one plot being flatland. Their income is mostly dependent on vegetable production, the proceeds of which they use to purchase what they need. They prefer regular sales to annual harvest as it allows for annual income smoothing. They have to participate in traditional ceremonies which can be costly. Traditional ceremonies and participating in them seems to be the most uncertain part of their annual expenditure. During lean times they get help from their family members (outside of the household), i.e. one of the aunts (sister of the head of household) own a kiosk who helps them with a bag of rice when they need it. Adults eat less than the children during lean times. Education is seen as a priority so effort given to ensure continuation of studies for the children. The family has no savings possibly because an expensive traditional tribute (where they had to offer a large number of buffaloes) wiped it out in 2013.

Aspirations for Children The head of the household was not available for the interview as she was in the field attending her vegetables. However, all children in the house are attending school and have completed up to senior high school. Although there are signs of interruption in school years, the interviewee (second eldest son) expressed the desire for all to continue school. Sources of Income 

 



  

The head of the household receives a pension of $360 a year or $30 a month. This pension is paid out every six months and is picked up by the head of the household herself. She last received the pension in December 2013. As per her children, the head of the household has full control over the money she gets as pension and decides to spend most of it on food, clothes for the children and school fees. The family gets $50 a month from the oldest brother who lives in Dili. One of the younger members of the family also receive a $60 a year school scholarship. The family’s main source of income (other than the remittances) are from vegetables: 1,000– 1,400 heads of cabbage @ 50 cents a head= $500–700 (sold to Dili); Carrots: $10 per sack for 10 sacks= $100 (Maubisse market); Mustard: bunch of five heads @ $1 per bunch for five bunches a week for half the year= $130 (local market); Beans: four sacks (25 kg rice sack) at $30 a sack= $120 (Maubisse market) They prefer vegetable farming as they identify it as their major source of income as well as the most profitable activity in the area. They do cabbages as they know they can get the most money out of it compared to other vegetables and that they can sell it to Dili. They also see potatoes as potentially lucrative however have not been able to get a full harvest. They never buy vegetables from the markets and so consume their own. Thus harvest is split between sale and consumption. Expenditures: Most products that the family needs come from Maubisse or the local kiosk. Their major expenditures are rice, education and transport for crops. They buy rice once a week every week for eight months and meat every week (limited amounts only).

Market Development Facility | 67

Farming Activities and Income 

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   

The family has four equal-sized plots of 0.5 hectares each for a total of 2 ha. They grow cabbage, carrots, mustard, maize, beans, lettuce and potatoes. The maize and beans are intercropped while the vegetables have separate plots and in some cases rotated one after the other. Mustard is a regular crop which is planted and harvested in a month allowing for a fairly regular sale of it. Land sizes have not varied for any crop in recent years. The main income source through farming is from vegetables. The maize is for home consumption only. They buy rice for consumption and sometimes use carrots and lettuce as gifts (these are mainly for sale though with a little going towards gifts). All members of the family help with the farming. The second eldest son is primarily in charge of the farming along with the head of the household. The other members help out after school. For vegetables: the household buys seeds only for cabbages as well as fertilizer (again only for cabbages). They buy seeds from Dili ($12 a packet) for cabbages. The fertilizer they use is ‘black’ and ‘white’ (possibly DAP and Urea respectively although they did not know which ones they used). They buy fertilizer for $50 a sack for two sacks of black and white = $100 for two sacks. The fertilizer is purchased in Dili. They ask the retailers directly. The household members saw a family friend use fertilizer for rice and copied it from him. They got benefit from it and has been using it since. They have enough of a harvest to sell as well as eat regularly. There is very little sale in the immediate locality as most people grow the exact same things. He does not have any issues with farming except for when it rains too much. Too much rains can cause rot in the vegetables. He harvests: Cabbage (1,000 to 1,400 heads per year); Carrots (10 sacks @ 60 kg sacks) per year); Beans (four sacks @ 35 kg sacks) per year; Mustard (25 heads times 26 weeks) per year. The household grows maize only for consumption. Just like vegetables, all members of the household chip in to help with farming. They do not use any purchased seeds or other inputs for maize. They use retained seeds. There is no market for maize in the area as all households in the area grow maize for self-consumption. They have issues with wind. If it is too windy, they lose harvest as plants fall over and crop is destroyed. They also lose up to two sacks @ 25kg sacks to rats a year. They harvest: 10 sacks @ 25 kg if the weather is good or five sacks @25 kg if weather is too windy. They do not get any support from MAF extension workers on crops. Transporting crops costs $150 and inputs are $100

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 

   

The household grows maize for own-consumption. However maize is not the primary staple and is used only in times when they are not able to purchase rice. Rice is thus the primary staple, which they buy from the local markets. Maize is grown by most households in the area and so cannot be exchanged for rice with other households. The family suffers from food shortages around January / February (right before harvests for maize and vegetables). The family never buys vegetables from the market and eat their own. They spend about $1000 per year on traditional needs (equivalent of $850 worth buffalo and $150 cash) They buy one bag of rice each week for eight months at $17.50 / bag – totals $560.

68 | Market Development Facility

 

Buy $2.50 worth of meat each week – totals $130 Education costs are $144 per year

Opportunities They want to do more vegetable farming as that gets them the most money out of all other types. They mentioned planting more but need information on how to do cultivation properly. Market Access 

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 

Market Access: They prefer to sell to Dili markets and if not Dili, Maubisse market. They transport crops to Dili via truck (one truck one trip $150 one way). However selling to Dili is dependent upon availability of transport. They take crops to Maubisse market on top of horses. They go to the weekly market (in the suco) every week and goes to Maubisse market twice a week. They go mainly to sell vegetables but also buy what they need. They have mobile phone as well as electricity in their houses. Price setting is mostly done by consumers / buyers. Assets: The family does not own any household appliances (stove, refrigerator etc.) as well as farming equipment.

Section on Gender Interview of the male household member 

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His activities involve farming, collecting firewood and selling products in local, Maubisse and Dili markets. According to him, the woman’s main responsibilities include, farming, cooking, cleaning, collecting water and taking care of the children and elders. As the household is female headed (widow), all finances are controlled by the mother. Thus all decisions regarding expenditures and purchases are dealt with by the mother. This is because the husband has passed away and she is the eldest in the family. The children also do not take the money she controls and let her dictate expenditure. She however focuses primarily on buying food for the household, education and other expenditures (traditional etc.) The women in the area apparently only work in their own farms. They are not allowed to go to the field during storms or windy times. The women can go to the markets to sell agricultural products. They cannot go to the market to sell livestock as that is seen to be the area of men. The women however can feed the chicken. Pigs, goats and horses are fed by the men. Women in the area are forbidden from collecting firewood (not sure if this is a cultural phenomenon or just the men being protective about women wondering into the bush by themselves). Women in the area can own businesses such as kiosks. However nobody in the household owns a business. An aunt of the family owns a kiosk and supports the household with rice during times of need. However, priority is given to finishing up own housework more than anything else. The men think that the best way the women can earn more money is by farming vegetables, owning a kiosk or buy baking bread or frying bananas for sale to markets during market days. No women in the household works for others or has left the house for work.

Central Interview #5

Market Development Facility | 69

Code

District

Ainaro

Suco

Maubisse

Family size

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

1.5 ha

Sources of income

Coffee: $120 / year (average) Soy: $55 / year (average) Kiosk revenue: $10-$50 / week Remittance from parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; pension: average $40 / year

Total Annual Net Income

$1151

Income per capita per day

$0.78

Crop Yields

Coffee: 6x60kg sacks in 2013 Maize: 30-65 35kg sacks Soy: 2x60kg sack Kidney beans: 1, 35kg sack Vegetables: insufficient information- all for home consumption

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Maize: yes Vegetables: most Rice: no

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

20 x 25kg bags of rice per year ($12 per sack) $400 per year on vegetables

Main Markets Sold

Maubisse

Household Expenses

Education: $0 Household expenses: Rice: $280 per year Clothing: $200 per year Meat: $180 per year Vegetables: $400 / year Traditional ceremonies: $200

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1260

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.86

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The household is engaged in coffee and vegetable cultivation; owns a kiosk and gets a share of remittance from the parents. The family is self-sufficient in vegetable and maize but not in rice. The husband is primarily responsible for managing the farm but the wife also helps in farming along with selling bread and managing the kiosk. The kiosk can be a good source of constant income for the family to cushion against shocks such as the hungry season. However, they could add more agri-based products in their kiosk to attract a large client base. They have only recently started using fertiliser on their vegetable farm with the assistance from MAF, who had provided free vegetable seeds in 2012. However, they use retained seeds for maize, beans and soy. Although the household is located far from the main road network, they can use their mobile phone as an important source of information to gather more market intelligence. Overall, the decisions are made by the head of the household in consultation with the wife.

70 | Market Development Facility

Household Details 

    

The head of the household is male and 25 years old. He did not attend school. He worked in a brick factory in Dili for several years before moving back to Maubisse in 2011. He used the savings from this work to set up a roadside kiosk (start-up cost=$1500). From the kiosk, he sells oil, sugar, salt, coffee, soup, and other small items. He also has a compressor to refill vehicle tyres. The wife of the head of the household is 20 years old, and completed 12th class. She works on the farm, the kiosk, and bakes bread for sale in the kiosk. The family has two children, aged 3 and 1. The house is made of concrete bricks with concrete walls. They do not own a television radio tape player / CD, and they own one clothes cupboard. The household has two plots of land. No one living in the house has a wage paying (or non-wage non-farming) job.

Aspirations for Children 



The family would like to send their children to school, and to university. But whether this is possible depends on the family’s financial capacity to support them. It is too early to say whether this will be possible. Household head said that he would like the children to work in a small business similar to his own kiosk (if possible). Of course, an office-type job in Dili would be ideal, but the children are too young to say whether this is a possibility.

Sources of Income   

The family receives $10–30 every six months as a gift from the household head’s parents (when the parents receive their pension). The family earns between $50 and $170 per year from coffee plantation, and between $50 and $70 per year for soy. The kiosk has only been operating for a few months, so it is difficult to estimate how much money the household earns from this. Revenue varies from $50–$250 per week, and the $50 weeks are much more common that the $250 weeks. It proved difficult to estimate what the input costs are, but assuming a 20% mark-up, the survey team extrapolated an annual income of $936.

Farming Activities and Income The family has two plots of land: 



1 ha: Coffee (harvest 5-6 60kg sacks of berries per year, sold at $0.35-0.45 per kilo). Coffee is sold to CCT at a local collection point. About 10kg is retained for sale at the kiosk, and further small amounts are given as gifts at traditional celebrations. A CCT extensionist helped them remove old trees, but the household has not planted any new trees. 0.5 ha: ˗ Maize (harvest 30-60 35kg sacks per year for home consumption) ˗ Beans (harvest one 35kg sack per year for home consumption) ˗ Soy (harvest 2x60kg sacks per year, one is sold and one is consumed) ˗ Small amounts of vegetables (all for home consumption) The house and land is owned by the household head’s brother, who no longer lives in TimorLeste. They do not pay rent.

Market Development Facility | 71

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The kiosk has been operating for a few months. The household is pleased with it: compared to farming, it provides a regular monthly source of income. The hours are long, though they open the kiosk from 6am–8pm seven days a week. They use small amounts of fertiliser on their vegetables. They obtained this fertiliser for free from friends who received it from MAF. This occurred only once in the last three years. They received vegetable seeds from MAF in 2012. All other seed (maize, beans, soy) are from their own retained production. The household does not hire labour. It is not possible to do so because all families in the area have coffee, so all are busy at harvest time. It is difficult to conclude whether income from agriculture is going up or down since the household has only been farming since 2011 (they were living in Dili before then). The household sell their crops in the Maubisse market (5km away). They carry crops to market by foot, unless a family member or neighbour is able to transport them by motorcycle or car. The household has a mobile phone with credit. The biggest problems with agriculture is physical exhaustion at the time of harvest, and the fact that there are many sellers of the same crops, which drives the price down.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses  



The household is self-sufficient in maize and vegetables. After having starting the kiosk, they usually have enough money to meet their costs because it provides a regular income. April is the month when they do not generally have enough food. At this time, they do not have rice or maize. The husband and wife eat less at this time, and consume more taro and cassava. Expenses: ˗ 20 25kg sacks of rice per year: $180 ˗ Vegetables: $50 / month when there is not enough vegetables in the home garden (about eight months a year) =$400 ˗ Meat: $15 / month to eat meat about 4–5 times a month ˗ Clothing: $200 per year ˗ Traditional ceremonies: varies significantly. In this district, when a woman’s parent dies, the household must purchase a buffalo for the funeral. Other ceremonies cost about $40 each. Over the last year, they have spent about $200 over 4–5 ceremonies. ˗ Education: $0 (children too young to attend school) The family does not formally budget their income and expenditure, but the fact that they saved a considerable amount from the household head’s work in Dili indicates that the family is able to do this informally.

Opportunities Cabbages are a profitable crop, so growing more cabbages on existing land could increase revenue. In addition, baking bread for sale is also a possibility, but the household does not have the money to start such a business. Market Access The household is in a remote mountainous area with poor-quality road which runs about 8km to the main Aileu–Ainaro road. From the junction with the main road, it is about 8–10km to Maubisse. The household carry their crops by foot or horse from their house to the junction and then pay ($2 per person plus $2 per bag of crops) to travel in a truck to Maubisse.

72 | Market Development Facility

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member The household head’s wife declined to be interviewed as she was busy caring for her children. Interview of the male household member:      

Cooking is primarily the wife’s responsibility, but husband helps because caring for children takes a lot of time. Caring for children, taking care of elders, and cleaning are done jointly. Husband collects firewood and water. Women are not permitted to collect firewood. Husband does most of the work in the fields and in the kiosk. His wife works in the kiosk when he is busy in the fields. However, the wife does assist in the fields when it is necessary. The wife does not have any off-farm income, apart from working in the kiosk. Decisions on expenditure are made by the household head for all areas, after consultation with his wife.

(Interview ended early because a large number of customers were coming to the kiosk after mass, and the respondent no longer had the time to answer questions.)

Central Interview #6 Code

District

Aileu

Suco

Seloi Kraik

Family size

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

Could not give accurate information but estimates suggest approximately 1 ha of cultivable land and another plot that is not cultivated

Sources of income

Vegetable contract sales: $500 / year Vegetable market sales: $125 / year Social transfers: $360 / year Other farm labour: $15 / year Costs: Labour hire for paddy harvest: $27

Total Annual Net Income

$973

Income per capita per day

$0.29

Crop Yields

Maize: unsure Rice: 4-5 large cement sacks (~200kg) of paddy Vegetables: insufficient information on yield but almost all grown under contract with Kmanek shop. Taro: insufficient information on yield but all are kept for own consumption. Cassava: insufficient information on yield but all kept for own consumption

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice: Most

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

5 x 25kg bags of rice per year Other food: purchased

Main Markets Sold

Aileu, Seloi Kraik market (on junction with main road)

Market Development Facility | 73

Code

Household Expenses

Rice:4-5 (25kg rice bags) bags per year: $60 / year Meat:$4 / week=$208 / year Other household expenses such as salt, oil, eggs, onions, shampoo: $5-10 / week=$400

Total Annual Household Expenses

$668

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.20

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The household is engaged in vegetable, mustard, rice and maize cultivation and the head of the household occasionally works as day labourer in other’s farms. Vegetables are grown in contract with one of the largest super shops in Dili that supplies vegetable seeds and also collects the produce at farm gate on a pre-determined price. Mustard and vegetables grown under contract are their major cash crops whereas rice and maize is grown for own consumption. The primary expenditures are made from the income from farm and social transfer, however, they also raise livestock which is sold in case of a financial emergency. The family would prefer to work on non-farm wage paying jobs but does not have sufficient information on such opportunities. Overall, the household is self-sufficient in crops besides having to buy small portion of rice from the market. The family has relatively good access to the market where they sell the mustard, otherwise they always have the liberty to sell their vegetable produce from home (as the buyer collects the produce from farm gate). The household also sees opportunities in non-farm jobs and poultry business as the market price for poultry is good. The household understands the benefit of cultivating vegetables on a commercial basis and wants to continue with it. Household Details     



The head of the household is male and has not attended school. The respondent (his wife) was unsure of his age. The wife of the household head (the respondent) was not sure of her own age, though appeared to be in her late 40s or early 50s. She has not attended school as well. The household has seven children, of which four were over the age of 18. No one in the household has had a non-farm job, though they occasionally do paid labour on other farms. The head of the household receives the old age pension. The family has a plot of irrigated land on which they can grow crops year-round. They were not sure of the size, but it appeared to be about 1 ha. They have another plot of land that is too far away, so they do not cultivate it. The house is constructed of wood and has an earth floor. They do not have a radio or television, but they do have a mobile phone.

Aspirations for Children   

The family would like their children to go as far as their academic ability allows them. But this depends on the family’s financial capacity to support them. If their children work hard at school, they would like them to get a wage-paying job, otherwise the family is afraid that they will become farmers. The family would like their children to get jobs off the farm so that they can have a better life and social status. This is why she sent her son to university. If her children get jobs they will also be better able to support their parents.

74 | Market Development Facility

Sources of Income 

Income sources are: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

   

Old age pension for household head: $180 per six months=$360 / year Vegetables grown on contract: $500 per year Mustard sold in the market $2.50 per week year-round=$125 Paid farm labour: $3 / day for about five days last year.

They regard wage-paying work as better than farming, but do not know where to find such work. They do not receive any donations, remittances, loans, or other income. Social transfer money is used to pay for food, school fees, and house repairs. The family has no savings, but they raise cows, pigs, and chicken as ‘living banks’ which can be sold in case of an emergency or in case of any unexpected financial need.

Farming Activities and Income  

       

  

Contract farming vegetables: The household grows crops on contract to with one of the large departmental stores in Dili. What they grow depends on what seed they are given. The buyer sets the price for the crops when they deliver the seed and returns a few months later to collect the crops and deliver more seed. They typically grow cabbages, pumpkin and watermelon. They use organic fertiliser. Land is irrigated, so they grow vegetables year-round. There was not enough information on how much they produce but they earn about $500 per year from these sales. Farming vegetables for sale at local market: Sells green mustard at the local Seloi Kraik market every week. They earn about $2.50 per week from these sales. Staples Rice: all for consumption. They grow almost enough paddy to feed the family, and only need to buy 4–5 bags per year. The family hires 8–9 labourers for one day for $3 each to harvest the paddy. 50kg of rice is lost to spoilage. Maize: all for consumption. Insufficient information on total harvest but two sacks of maize are lost to spoilage. Fish The household eats fish that are caught from the paddy lake.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses   

Apart from small quantities of rice, the household is self-sufficient in crops. There is generally not enough food between January–March. During this period they have to purchase rice and maize from the market. Expenditure: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

Food (oil, salt, MSG, other items): $5-10 / week=$500 per year Dried fish and chicken:$4 / week Paddy harvest: nine people at $3: $27 Rice: 4-5 x 25kg bags=$50 per year

Market Development Facility | 75

Opportunities Vegetables are the best way to earn more money. The family would welcome more off-farm work, but there is little work available. Market Access The buyer’s vehicles come to the farm gate to deliver seed and pick up crops and mustard is sold at the Seloi Kraik market, about 5km away.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member   



 

According to the wife, women’s main responsibilities are cooking, cleaning, washing, and collecting water. Men’s main responsibilities entail farming and firewood collection. In practice, the women in the household also assist with all farming tasks. Women who earn money keep it for themselves, and may spend it as they wish. In practice, all expenditure is made for the requirements of the household and therefore benefits all members of the family. Women in the family work on their own farm, work as labourers on other farms and sell crops at the Seloi Kraik market and to traders. She said they have worked as labour on other people’s farm – but only one person at a time – she gets $3 per day and she keeps the money. She worked five times last year as labour. Young girls are not allowed to sell poultry and livestock but the older women can go to sell the animals. The women in the household would like the opportunity to leave the household for work, but they do not have the opportunity. The best opportunities for economic development is in coffee, vegetables, and poultry sales. Poultry is good business, because the prices are good ($15–20 per chicken). But young women are not permitted to sell poultry- only men and older women are. Respondent was aware of a microfinance agency in Aileu town. She has not used the service because of the high interest rate. According to the interviewee, all successful women have more land.

Interview of the male household member Note from survey team: we were not confident that the questions and answers for this part of the questionnaire were understood by the respondent. Therefore we have not included those responses in this summary.

Central Interview #7 Code

District

Ainaro

Suco

Mulo

Family size

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

2 ha (claimed) but by observation more likely to be 0.5 ha

Sources of income

Cabbages: 1000 head @ $0.35 on average=$350 / year Mustard: $40-50 for three months=$135 / year

76 | Market Development Facility

Code

17 Costs: cabbage seed $20 Transport: $2 per person +$2 per bag to travel to market to sell crops. =$50 (could not say how often, so this is an estimate)

Total Annual Net Income

$415

Income per capita per day

$0.11

Crop Yields

Cabbage: 1000 heads Beans: 1½ 50kg sacks Maize: one 50kg sack

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice: No All other crops: yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

3x25kg bags of rice per month @ $20 per bag (prevailing price in remote area). Total expenditure=$720 (though this is likely an over-estimate)

Main Markets Sold

Maubisse

Household Expenses

Education: $0 Household expenses: $1.50 / month Rice: $60 / month (if they can afford to buy otherwise eat taro and husband and wife eat less) Clothing: $8.50 / month Total: estimated at $80 / month

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1030

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.28

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The household is self-sufficient in terms of crops except for rice which they need to buy for consumption. Cabbages and mustard are cultivated for sale but maize, potatoes, beans and other vegetables are grown for household consumption. The family has poor access to the market as their house is located far off in a remote mountainous area with poor quality road connection. However, they do realise the need to travel to the market to sell their produce, particularly cabbage to earn an income. The family sees opportunity in higher cabbage cultivation as it is a profitable crop and also in baking bread (although they do not have enough capital to start-up the business). All the household members are engaged in the field but the wife only helps when she can make time off the household chores. All household decisions are taken jointly but the husband has the last say on agriculture and livestock issues, whereas the wife has the final say on household expenses. Nevertheless, the family operate as one financial unit and all expenditures are made jointly from a single pool of income. Household Details  



The head of the household is 40 years old, and did not attend school. His wife is 32 and attended school until 6th class. The family has eight children from ages 5–20. The two eldest children have never attended school, and work only on the farm. Four (ages 8–17) attend school regularly, and the two youngest are not yet old enough for school. The house is made of wood with earth floors. Only a small area of the house has walls. They do not own a television, radio tape player / CD, but they own two clothes cupboards.

Market Development Facility | 77

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   

The household has two plots of land that, by observation were about 100–150m2 each. They grow cabbages and mustard for sale; and maize, potatoes, beans, and vegetables are grown for home consumption. No one living in the house has a wage paying (or non-wage non–farming) job. Aspirations for children: The parents themselves have little / no education. They therefore see it as important that their children are educated. How long they stay in school depends on how hard they study. The two eldest children have no education at all, and they will work on the farm to support the other six children’s education.

Sources of Income   

The family does not receive any social transfers. They do not receive any donations, charity or scholarships, nor do they receive remittances or money from other family members. They grow two crops for cash: cabbages and mustard. These are their only regular sources of income. In 2010, the head of the household, and his two eldest children earned $54 (at $3 / day each) for six days work. This was the only off-farm income in the last few years.

Farming Activities and Income 

 

The family said they have two 1 ha plots of land. One plot was close to the house, and the survey team estimated its actual size at about 20x50m. The respondent mentioned that the other plot was of the same size, so total land size is likely to be about 0.25 ha. This accords with the harvested crop amounts. Both plots are flat and unirrigated. The household harvests mustard for sale on a monthly basis from approximately December to February and earns about $40 per month. Cabbage: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗



Mustard: ˗ ˗ ˗



The household harvests about 80 plants per harvest, with the harvest period lasting from December to February. 4plants=1 bunch=$1 Household estimates that they earn $40–50 per month during this period

Beans (possibly kidney beans): ˗



The household harvests 1000 heads of cabbage in May-June. They take the crop for sale in the Maubisse market over the course of those months. They take the crop about 10km by horse or foot to the junction with the main road, and from there they pay $2 per person plus $2 per bag of produce to take it to the market. The price varies from $0.20-0.50 per head. The price is generally at the lower end of this range because there are many cabbage farmers in the district, and there is an oversupply at harvest time. The farmer purchased KK Cross branded seed for $20 for one packet.

Last year the farmer grew 1½ 50kg sacks for home consumption although he lost some due to moisture, but could not estimate the amount of loss.

Maize: ˗

Last year the farmer grew 1, 50kg sack of shelled maize.

78 | Market Development Facility



Potatoes and vegetables: ˗ ˗

Grew small quantities of these crops for home consumption but he could not mention how much. They received the seeds for this from a MAF extensionist.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses The household only purchases rice for consumption. All other food is grown on the farm. When there is not enough money for rice (during the hungry season January-March), the family eats Taro and other crops instead. During this time the husband and wife will eat less to ensure that the children have enough to eat. 

Expenses: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗



Three sacks of rice per month: ($60 / month) Clothes: $8.50 per month Education: $0 (all children attend government school) Traditional: $0 (have not recently been required to pay any) Household: $1.50 per month on salt, oil Estimated total expenditure: $80 / month

The family does not budget or plan their spending or income.

Opportunities Cabbage is a profitable crop, so growing more cabbages on existing land could increase their revenue. In addition, baking bread for sale is also a possibility, but the household does not have the money to start such a business. Market Access The household is located in a remote mountainous area with a poor-quality road running for about 8km to the main Aileu-Ainaro road. From the junction with the main road, it is about 8–10km to Maubisse. The household carry their crops by foot or horse from their house to the junction and then pay ($2 per person plus $2 per bag for carrying crops) to travel in a truck to Maubisse.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member 

 

According to the wife, her main responsibilities are cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. She also collects water, and helps occasionally with the farming. Her eldest children are responsible for food processing, and the younger sons for collecting firewood. The men’s responsibilities are primarily farming, which takes up five days of the week. He does not have any responsibilities in the household. The wife herself decides how she spends her time, but her days are occupied with household responsibilities. It would not be possible for her to take a job on the farm because her responsibilities in the household take up too much time. All expenditure decisions are made jointly. When it comes to agriculture and livestock, the husband’s decision is final. However, the wife has the final say on household expenses. Growing more cabbage and baking bread are the best opportunities for her and her family to make more money. However, bread baking requires start-up capital that the household does not have.

Market Development Facility | 79

 

All income is spent jointly: the husband and wife do not have separate income pools. Women are permitted to sell crops, but they cannot sell livestock, plant trees, or build fences.

Interview of the male household member Note: the husband was in a distant field, and was not available for interview. Instead, for the male perspective, we interviewed the husband’s father, who lives in an adjoining house.  

  

His view was that women’s responsibilities are farming, cooking, and washing clothes. As a grandfather, his responsibilities are taking care of children, collecting firewood and water, and occasionally assisting his daughter-in-law (who lives in the same house) with the cleaning. His wife has passed away. If he had a wife, he would be able to advise her on how to spend her time. However, he has no such power over his daughter-in-law. All agricultural and household expenditure is the man’s decision. He believes that farming is the only economic opportunity for women.

Central Interview #8 Code

District

Aileu

Suco

Seloi Kraik

Family size

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

0.25 ha

Sources of income

Remittances from son in Dili: $600 / year Labour off-farm: $40 / year Reselling garlic: $40 / year Vegetable sales: $500 / year Costs: Cabbage seeds: $12 Tractor: $2

Total Annual Net Income

$1166

Income per capita per day

$0.45

Crop Yields

Maize: 2x 40kg bags (shelled) Rice: 10x20kg bags (paddy) Mustard, cucumber, cabbage, vegetables: not sure. Receives about $500 per year. Soy: 5-10kg Taro: insufficient information on yield- all for home consumption Cassava: insufficient information on yield- all for home consumption

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Maize: yes Vegetables: yes Rice: no

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

9 x 35kg bags of rice per year Other food: $500 / year

Main Markets Sold

Aileu, Seloi Kraik market (on junction with main road)

Household Expenses

Education: $160 per year Food, clothing and household expenses: $500

80 | Market Development Facility

Code

18 Rice: $144 per year Traditional ceremonies: $150 average Support to daughter studying in Aileu: $315

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1269

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.50

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The family owns three small plots of land out of which one is dedicated for vegetable, maize, cassava, taro and small quantities of soy cultivation and the other two are for rice cultivation. Vegetables are cultivated for sale (some only kept for own consumption) whereas the rest are all for household consumption. Although the household is self-sufficient in maize and vegetables but need to make expenditures on rice, food items such as oil, salt, etc. schooling and also in supporting their daughter’s education in another district. The land owned by the family is low land and non-irrigated, however, he does have access to MAF extension staff to gather information on cultivation techniques and get support on agro-tools (to some extent). Household Details   



 

The head of the household is a 56 year old male who has never attended school. He is physically challenged. The wife of the head of the household (who was the respondent, as the head of the household was working in the fields) is 42, and has never attended school. The family’s eldest daughter is married and is no longer part of the household. The eldest son completed university and now lives and works in Dili as a police officer. He is no longer part of the household, but provides remittances of about $50 per month. There are four children in the household. The eldest of these, age 20, is studying at school in Aileu and the family provides between $20-60 per month to support her (in addition to the tuition fees). The other four children (age 7–17) are studying at school nearby. The house is constructed of wood and rattan, with a thatched roof and earth floor. The household does not have any electrical appliances, and they have no clothes cupboards. The mother had a mobile phone, but has given it to her daughter, who studies in Aileu. The household has three plots of land. One larger plot for vegetables and maize, and two small plots for rice. All are flat and unirrigated. No one living in the house has a wage paying (or non-wage non farming) job.

Aspirations for Children 



The family would like all their children to go to university. But this depends on the household’s capacity to support them financially. If the household does not have enough money then she would stop sending the children to school for a couple of years until their financial situation had improved. The family would also like their children to get jobs off the farm so that they can have a better life and status. This is why she sent her son to university. If her children get jobs they will also be better able to support their parents.

Sources of Income 

Income sources are:

Market Development Facility | 81

˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

Remittances from son in Dili: $50 per month Crops: $500 per year Labouring on other farms ($3 per day, 1–2 people, 1–2 days a month, for 3–4 months a year):$40 per year Buying large packs of garlic and reselling it in smaller packages: $10 profit each time, about four times per year: $40 Husband was receiving a pension until two years ago, but has not received it since.

Farming Activities and Income  

The household has three plots of land: 200m2: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗



Two plots of about 15m2 each: ˗

 



Grows maize, cassava, taro, and soy (all for home consumption). maize:2x40kg bag Soy:5-10kg Sells very small amounts of soy at the market (0.50c per glass). Not sure of total sales. Taro and cassava: not sure Grows cucumber, mustard, cabbage, and other vegetables for sale. Consumes a little of these crops. Not sure of the total quantities of each crop, but total revenue from sales each year is about $500. Buys cabbage seeds at the Aileu market, or asks a family member to bring them from Dili. $12 per ‘plastic’. All other seed is retained. Uses traditional fertilisers (mulched plant matter) Chose to grow mustard and cabbage because they deliver a good price. Loses very small amounts of maize (two cobs) to spoilage. Spoilage is not a big problem.

Rice: 10x20kg bags of paddy rice.

They hire a hand tractor to plough these plots at a cost of $1.5–2.0 per season Note from survey team: We were not able to see these plots as they were far from the house. However, the yields indicate that these plots are probably larger than claimed. With little or no inputs, 200 kg of paddy implies that the two plots are at least 50–100m2 each. A MAF extensionist is in the area almost every day.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses  

The household grows much of its own food, but is not self-sufficient. Expenditure: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

  

Food (oil, salt, MSG, other items): $5–20 / week=$500 per year School: 4x$40 / year school fees=$160 per year Traditional ceremonies: $100-200 per year Rice: 9 x 35kg bags=$144 per year Support to daughter studying in Aileu: $20-50 per month=$315

They do not budget formally, and do not always have enough money. However, they adapt their needs to the amount of money that is available. The hungry season lasts 2-3 months around February-March. During this time the household eats less food, and mix cassava and taro with staples. The family might take children out of school when budget is tight.

82 | Market Development Facility

Opportunities Vegetables are the best way to earn more money. Would welcome more off-farm work, but there is little work available. Market Access  

Household sells crops twice a week at the Seloi Kraik (5km) or Aileu (10km) markets. They transport crops to market by foot, which is more difficult because her husband has a bad leg. Other farmers in the area sell to Kmanek, whose representatives bring seed and then collect the vegetables after they are grown. She would like to do the same because Kmanek pays good prices. However, she was not at home when the Kmanek representatives came to the area, so missed out on the opportunity.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member 



 

The wife does all the household chores (cooking, cleaning etc.), and husband refuses to assist with ‘women’s work’. The wife assists with all farm work except for firewood collection which is done exclusively by the husband. According to her, women’s main responsibilities are cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, and growing vegetables. Men’s main responsibilities are collecting firewood, ploughing, and building houses. Her husband spends a lot of time visiting friends and relaxing at home when he is tired. Women in this area are not allowed to climb trees or build fences. The couple separate their income. As such, the wife can decide herself how to spend her own money. All money from crop sales accrues to the wife. For larger purchases that require joint expenditure, the husband’s decision is final, though he must consult with her. If there were work outside the household, she would take it. She found it difficult to identify good options for women to earn money, apart from more farming. When prompted, she said some women in the area earn cash from baking bread and tailoring.

Interview of the male household member The husband was working on a distant field, and therefore was unavailable to attend the interview.

Market Development Facility | 83

Narratives from the Eastern Region Eastern Interview #1 Code

District

Baucau

Suco

Triloka

Family size

5 [4 in household 5 total supported in full or in part]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

6 ha

Sources of income

Social Transfer: $720 Peanuts: $25 gross revenue; Candlenuts: $120 Gross revenue Firewood: $480-$720 gross revenue (average of $600 / year) Costs: Milling $150-$200 Hand-tractor: $30

Total Annual Net Income

$1,260

Income per capita per day

$0.69 per person per day

Crop Yields

Rice:300 of 20 litres cans annually / 2 ha Maize: Insufficient information (4 ha)

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice: No

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

1 bag every two weeks â&#x20AC;&#x201C; approximately 26 bags in total per year

Main Markets Sold

Baucau

Household Expenses

Schooling for nephew in Dili: $60 annually for tuition (although send every bit of extra money to nephew as well) Rice: $408 (two bags per month @$17) Other Household expenses: $240 annually

Total Annual Household Expenses

$708

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.38

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions Overall the family has quite a large spread of land which is primarily used to cultivate rice and maize. However, they are not self-sufficient. The family supplements income from social transfer, peanut and candlenut sales and also firewood. The male head of the household is also engaged in carpentry but he makes more money from selling firewood. The female members of the household are also involved in farming but the family does not use any form of fertilisers, chemicals or inputs on the farm land. They have little or no information on input and fertiliser usage but have developed a perception that it spoils the soil (turns the soil into rock). The family could do much better if they had access to information on better cultivation techniques as they need more income to bear their expenses (most of which is spent on childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education).

84 | Market Development Facility

Household Details 

   

 

The head of the household is over 60 years old and only attended up to 2nd year of primary school during Portuguese time. His wife, is also over 60 and studied till 4th grade of primary school at the college in Ossu / Viqueque during Portuguese time. The household has only one daughter (married). They also raised one nephew who is now studying at the university in Dili. Two sons of their daughter are now living with them. There are five family members, but only four live in the household currently. The grandson (10 years old) is currently at second year of primary school and the other one (8 years old) is at third year of primary school. The house is made of bamboo with roof of coconut leaves and earth floors. They own a television and a tape recorder that were presented by a family member in Dili who visited them. They do not have any cupboards. They own 6 ha of land for crops which is used for rice (2 ha) and maize (4 ha). No one in the household has or has ever had a wage paying (or non-wage non farming) job. They are permanently farming (rice and maize) for income. They feel that they were destined to work only in fields but maybe their children will not work in the farms.

Aspirations for Children They want to educate their children because they do not want to see them holding a crowbar as they are now. They will continue to push their children to reach the highest level of education as far as they can although it is expensive. They believe they will be successful but that depends on their teachers and their own capacity to learn. Sources of Income 



The household receives social transfers from the government. The wife has received social transfer since 2010 and the husband since 2012. Everyone receives $30 / month but they receive every six months amounting to $180 at a time. The money is used to fund the nephew’s fees at the University in Dili. The money is mostly used for the nephew’s school and use some for own needs. It is difficult for them to save because they prioritise university fees of the nephew. When the nephew needs more money for buying expensive things such as laptop, they also collect money from other family members. They do not receive any donations, charity or scholarships, charity form churches, NGOs or international organisations. However, they do receive remittances or money from other family members in Dili when visiting them. But this is not very often, maybe once every two years or more. Although some of their members are getting loan from local diocese, they do not apply for loans.

Farming Activities and Income They have 6 ha of total land, all of which is low land. The lands for rice and maize are rain fed. 

Rice: ˗

They cultivate the hybrid variety of rice (Nacroma) on 2 ha once a year (plant in January and harvest in May or June). From the land they harvest 300-400 cans (20 litre cans) of rice every year. All of the rice is kept for household consumption and not for sale. They follow the casting method for the cultivation process. The husband is particularly responsible for land preparation and casting of rice. However, the female members of the household do the harvesting. Both are responsible for carrying

Market Development Facility | 85



Peanuts: ˗ ˗

 



They plant maize in 4 ha of land. They farm in groups, where the group members rotate labour. The husband and wife help in farm. Other relatives help when needed as they make up the group. Both male and female members of the household are responsible for clearing the land, cultivating and weeding. Only the female members harvest the maize and transport / carry it on their heads. No fertilizers or chemicals are used. The farmer uses the tractor provided by the government to the group, to plough the land. The total hours provided for families to use the tractor services is just one hour. One hours is only enough for half of the land. For the rest of his land he hires hand tractor for $30.They do not know exactly the harvest from the maize field. The yield is just piled in shed from ceiling to roof. All of the maize is kept for own consumption. Sometimes maize is also given away to families when they are visiting.

Spoilage from rats is the main cause of crop loss. Almost half of the crops is eaten away by rats. They did not get any free drums from the government nor do they know where to get them, but would pay for it if they knew where to buy. Candlenuts: ˗



The family also plants peanuts but this year has been an exception. However, they plan to plant peanuts again next year. Generally peanuts are planted in December and harvested in March. They normally get three bags of 25 kilos with husks, half of which is sold (1, 5 sacks) in the market and the rest kept for household consumption. Peanuts are sold in jars of 200 ml at 50 cents each jar. They earned $25 for one bag last year.

They also grow cassava for own consumption and are given away to other family members if there is over supply. Long bean: Long beans are planted in mix-cropping with maize. They plant this in November or December and harvest in April. The yield of long beans is just one can full of 20 litres. They do not sell but eat all. Maize: ˗



the harvest from the field to the house. They keep all for eating and retaining seeds. The family also mills the rice at a milling company which costs 50 cents for a can of 20 litres. The rice is kept in cement bags but there is a risk of spoilage from rats. In this particular year they are not cultivating rice because of insufficient rain. Therefore they are having to buy rice from the market.

They also planted candlenuts but do not know how many trees they have and what the land size is. The candle nut is harvested on an ongoing basis from January to August. Both men and women both go to collect candlenut. They sell the candlenut to Acelda. They normally collect and sell two sacks for $40. Every year 5–6 bags are sold. They are usually able to collect 1–two bags per month off land. But it depends on the time they have to collect it. The price is roughly 1 kg sold at $1. They said that collecting candlenut is too much work and only the children collect when they are out of school.

Rice, maize, long bean, cassava and peanuts are crops that they know and grow from generation to generation. They are not aware of the cultivation process of other crops. They do not use fertilizers or chemicals. They have heard that the government provides both fertilizers and chemicals but have never seen them. They also do not know of the benefits of using fertilisers. Since Indonesian times, the farmer developed a perception that if fertilizers are used it could turn the land hard / rocky and once fertilisers are used it must be continued otherwise the soil will go bad. It is difficult to buy but if they get it for free, they will use it. They do not want to spend money on it because the money needs to be saved for the nephew.

86 | Market Development Facility



  



Earlier their daughter helped them get some seeds from other district but now they use their retained seeds. Sometimes the government delivers free seeds but that is only after they have planted. They do not use labour to work on their land. They are farming themselves. On the major problems that they face in their farm is attacks from mice and animals; or the lack of rain or late rain. They do not think about selling the crops for earning more money because currently they do not even produce enough for the family. Currently they use traditional methods and as they are getting older they do not want to plant more. They do not know the extension officers in this village. Prior to independence from Indonesia, people used to come here but not since independence.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 

 

Sometimes the yield from their land is enough for eating in a year. But if it is not, they buy rice in the market. They buy rice at $17 a bag. One bag of rice finishes in two weeks (so total of 26 bags per year). If they do not have enough money to buy foods, they can find another way to get more through selling firewood and livestock. They have two goats, 10–15 chickens and three pigs. They can earn $20 each time they go to sell firewood. They sell when they need to sell. They normally take a wagon, fill it up with firewood and sell it in Baucau. Last year they went to Baucau 2–3 time every month. They may go 3–4 times a month if there are pressure to earn more money. The family spends most of its money on funerals and education for children (books and clothes). Their own monthly day-to-day expenses for household supplies are $20 per month (at the most) or $240 per year and this probably does not include rice as they quoted that separately (about $34 per month if two bags per month). The family supports the nephew in Dili each month with fees and money for food. The family does not budget or plan their spending or income, just receive money and send to nephew.

Opportunities They recognise the money they earn is not enough but they somehow manage or find ways to get an income. When asked about ideas to get more money, the husband said that he does carpentry work, but selling firewood earns more money. He said that they would have extra money if they did not pay for the education of their children. Market Access 



Market Access: The family lives nearby the small village road that goes to other villages. The family place is located about 4 km from the main road that connects Baucau to Dili. It is a one hour drive on a microlet to Baucau and approximately three hours’ drive to Dili. The condition of the road is rough. The family does have a mobile phone to communicate but general has little or no credit. The family lives nearby the village market on the main road. The village market gathers every Tuesday and Friday. The family sometimes goes to market only when needed such as buying coffee etc. They only need to walk 15 minutes to reach the market. The head of the family may go to the market 1–2 times a year.

Market Development Facility | 87



The family does not own any farm equipment except a spade and does not own a motorbike, car, or bicycle nor any household appliances.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member   



 

The wife’s main responsibilities include cooking, washing, cleaning, collecting firewood and going to the market. The husband’s main responsibility is farming. When asked if she could spend more time earning money for the family she responded that they would sell more firewood and if they have more crops then they would sell more crops for income. The couple jointly decides on everything from farming, items and equipment; livestock purchase or sales; on household items, food purchases; school fees; medicines, social obligations and church donation. The wife does farm work on chilli, papaya and pumpkin and sells if there are surplus. The wife does not have her own savings. They only save money for the children to go to school. She earns a little from kitchen garden sometimes and the money is kept with her and she uses it how she wants. She spends the money on her own needs as and when required. The wife is not part of any other group, association or NGO program, but she does volunteer at the church. She says there are two women in the village who run their own business (sewing goods locally). She wants to do the same, but they do not have the financial resources to do it. She would be allowed to start the business if they had money and time was not an issue.

Interview of the male household member     

  

The husband does not know how to cook and does not even process the food as he thinks it is the woman’s task. The husband is responsible for cleaning the yard, taking care of the grand children and help collect water and firewood. According to the husband, women’s main role includes cooking and harvesting rice and maize. The husband mentioned that everyone performs duties as usual but the husband dictates the tasks for the wife. The husband does not request approval from wife to buy new items / equipment for farming but he does consult with the wife before making decision on livestock purchase or sales. They put money together, and the husband consults the wife before buying new furniture. In case of food, the husband is in liberty to go and make a purchase without asking the wife. The husband is also responsible to manage finance for children’s schooling and he may collect money from other family members if they do not have enough money for school fees of the children. They buy their own for medicines. The amount for social obligations is attributed among other households and the amount is decided / shared equally. For donations to the church, they donate privately. When there is an increase in income they prioritise their children’s education. They want their children to acquire higher education. He says his spouse works in the field and her task is to plant and harvest. The wife also sells peanuts at the market in Baucau and candlenut to Acelda at the farm gate.

88 | Market Development Facility



Culturally women are not allowed to prepare land for rice cultivation. The husband will feel dishonoured if the wife prepares land. Women are only expected to help in the cultivation and harvesting process. Women in the village do not engage in any volunteer work in the community and the wife’s activities on the farm is not acceptable by the society.

Eastern Interview #2 Code

District

Baucau

Suco

Triloka, Liquiloiwatu

Family size

10 in household [11 supported financially]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

4 ha 3.5 ha under production

Sources of income

Veteran Pension: $3,312 Daughters salary: $1,200 Candlenuts: $40 Peanuts: $102 Vegetables: $40 Costs: ($7.50 hand tractor fuel $20 urea costs)

Total Annual Net Income

$4,666

Income per capita per day

$1.16

Crop Yields

Rice: 40 cans / 0.5 ha (80cans / ha) Maize: eight bags / 3 ha (2.5 bags / ha)

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice: No Maize: Yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

Two bags per month of rice, 24 bags per year so 600kg per year (worth $408 per year)

Main Markets Sold

Baucau and Manatuto

Household Expenses

$50-$60 per month on every day expenses No education costs for niece collected

Total Annual Household Expenses

$660

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.16 not including education costs

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The household was earning significant income from veteran pension and the daughter was working as a tailor. They do support a niece in university in Dili and seems to rely very little on income from farming – because of difficulties in selling the produce. If there were more reliable sales channels then they would likely do more (and be able to do more) farming. As per the interview, it seemed that the current income that the family earns does not suffice and they do need to sell crops to get additional income. However, the interviewee was not able to clearly give the numbers for income and costs. Nevertheless, the need for a steady income came out strongly from the interview. Household Details 

There are 10 members of the family in the household, with one in Dili which they are supporting occasionally, so 11 which are supported financially.

Market Development Facility | 89

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In addition to the parents, the household members include a niece who is in 3rd grade of junior high school in Dili; a daughter who is married and lives in the house with her husband; threemonth old child of another daughter (who recently passed away); two more young daughters (15 and 7) and three young sons (14, 10, 4 respectively). They also have another daughter who is married and lives in West Timor, who is a housewife. The male head of the household has studied up to class 3 of primary school, and his wife till class 5 of primary school. The house is made of concrete / brick and the floors are concrete. The household owns a radio, a television and has two clothes cupboards. The family owns 3.5 ha of total land under cultivation: 3 ha is used for cultivating maize and 0.5 ha for rice. They indicated that the rice field is on someone else’ land, as the rest of their land is barren due to lack of water. No one currently has a wage earning job, however the married daughter in the household used to work as a tailor for the nuns at the church. She now just stays home and looks after her new born niece but she is planning to go back to work in the next few months. The daughter got the job by taking a course with the nuns and then they hired her for sewing (Tais and bags for overseas markets). She would work from 6am to 5pm for six days a week. The salary she earned was used to support the family. She was earning $80 initially which went up to $100 / month after one year but she thinks she can make more working on her own.

Aspirations for Children 

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The family is very focused on the education of their children. They hope that the young ones will make it to higher education in the future. After the daughters finish secondary school the father wants them to go to university. He said that as long as they are live he will find ways to support them to go far in life. He also recognises that it depends on their educational abilities as he sees the education system to be competitive. The family is hopeful that the children will get jobs after completing their education.

Sources of Income 

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The male head of the household receives social transfers every month as a veteran. He receives $276 per month (every month) so a total of $3,312 per year. He was injured and we suspect he might have also been a commander which explains why the amount is so high for a veteran pension. He saves that money in a bank and gives the rest to his wife to manage it. The money is used to pay for school fees and for buying food (some of the money had also been used to build their house in which they currently live). The expenditure that gets the highest priority is food. The family does not receive any donations, scholarships etc. no property income and no loans. They have one nephew in England who is not sending any money but they hope that in the future he might. If there are funerals then multiple families will collect money together as needed; and when their daughters were married they did receive animals and some money from the groom’s family but they did not indicate how much. The family is also engaged in agriculture which is discussed in detail below.

Farming Activities and Income 

The family’s land is lowland and rain fed.

90 | Market Development Facility

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The family plants rice, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, peanuts, cucumber, chillies, banana, pumpkin, coconut and candlenuts. Rice: ˗ ˗

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Maize: ˗ ˗

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They intercrop cucumber with maize. Last year they had too much so some got wasted and they even fed some to the pigs. They sold only some and got about $10 in total selling in Baucau. Transportation is also very difficult.

Candlenut: ˗

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They only started growing peanuts this year on 0.5 ha. Price is $17 per bag for a 25kg sack. They had 10 bags total out of which they sold six bags and ate some and used four bags for seeds. Total income from peanuts was therefore $102.

Cucumber: ˗

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Sweet potatoes are grown on 0.5 ha. They plant twice per year in June (harvest August) and again in December or January (harvest Feb or March). They eat it themselves and use as feed for animals unless there is surplus, which they’ll sell. Last year they got nine sacks of sweet potatoes which they ate and fed to the animals.

Peanuts: ˗

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Cassava is planted and only harvested after two years because the roots are small. They eat themselves or use for animal feed because transportation costs are high (at $3 / bag) when the cassava only sells for $5 / bag. Last year they heard of someone who bartered 10 ‘trees’ of cassava (equivalent to five bags) for a goat so they are going to try that this year to get the goat.

Sweet potatoes: ˗

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Maize is grown on 3 ha of land. Most of it is kept for household consumption but is only sold if there is any surplus. They plant maize twice a year in June / July (harvest in Aug / Sept) and again in November / December (Harvest Jan / Feb). They got eight sacks of cobs although they notice that yield has been decreasing because of lack of rain. Last year they could not sell as eight bags was not enough

Cassava: ˗

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Rice is grown on 0.5 ha of land. They have 1 ha in total but they only use half of it for rice because of water issues. They plant Selam variety only which grows once per year between February and April. Rice is kept for household consumption as there is not enough grown for sale. Generally they get 40 cans on the half hectare which is the highest yield they can get.

The family has 100 trees and they sell candlenuts to Acelda. They just harvest according to their needs, selling only once or twice per year and only sold $40 worth of candlenut last year. They could get more ($60–70 worth) but do not invest much time on it as it is very time consuming and there are other activities that they want to focus on. They sell for $1 / 1 kg and that is the price set by Acelda.

They also sell betel nut in the market to Baucau and Manatuto. In addition, the family also grows chillies, banana, pumpkin, cabbage and coconut which they sell but they could not give an estimate of how much was sold or how much money they made. Guestimates suggest $30–40 for the cabbage last year. The family owns four goats. They family has a hand tractor which belongs to the farmer group, made up of six farmers. Last year they got the hand tractor from the government. He is chief of the farmer group so the

Market Development Facility | 91

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tractor stays at their house. All the other members of the farmer group share the tractor and just pay for the petrol themselves ($7.50 / 5 l). He usually uses 5 l a day. For rice cultivation, both the men and women are equally involved: the men plant the rice and the women harvest the rice. For maize both men and women do all the tasks of harvesting, weeding etc. Overall, women are involved in the post-harvest activities and selling of the crops whereas the men focus on planting and maintenance. They use tractor before planting cassava and sweet potato (which is generally done by men). They use fertilizers (urea) for vegetables but no chemicals. They buy the urea in the market and use 0.5 bags per year (costs $30–40 per bag so $15–20 total per year). They only buy maize or rice seeds sometimes but mostly use neighbours and then just give the seeds back to neighbours after harvest. If they buy seeds, it is generally bought from the market in Manatuto or Vemasse. They usually buy seeds in 20 l rice tin cans which are sold at $5 / can and if not in tin cans, then, $0.50-$1 per packet of maize seeds. The last few years they received free seeds from the government, so did not have to buy. They have no issues finding the supplies they need as they buy them from the shops in town, but the bigger problem is having the money to buy. Sometimes they use relatives to help in planting and harvesting the maize, but also have their children help out. If they use relatives they do not pay but they feed them meat of an animal, usually dogs and 1–2 can of palm wine. Two other problems they face are storage of maize as they get eaten up by animals and insufficient rainfall in some seasons. Government provides rice, maize and vegetable seeds. Government staff only provide advice / inputs that the farmers already know / have.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 

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The family grows rice and maize but it is not enough to feed the family. They buy from the shops instead. They prefer to buy local Timor rice instead of imports. They buy at least two sacks of rice (25kg) each month so 24 sacks per year. It costs $17 per sack so they spend $408 on rice per year. Each month they usually spend about $50–60 on household items, food and school fees. They feel that rice is the biggest and most important expenditure. They always have enough money to buy the rice. They own a shared hand tractor with the farmer group; a bicycle for the children to go to school and a kettle. The family has a plan for deciding how to spend money but they do not keep track of every day expenses. So it seems they pre-plan or at least discuss how to spend money but do not keep track of spending against it. In instances, where they need money but do not have a sufficient amount, they get all members of the family together to add money to get what they need. If for some reason they do not have enough they will borrow from others, but typically the pension money along with sales of crops help cover their needs. They do save some money in the bank and then use the rest for their monthly expenses and other needs that come up (including funerals). In the last two months they had their daughter’s funeral so they spent more than normal. Veterans have their own savings group but he does not seem to be a part of it. He would rather save in the bank. They decide not to really invest in more farming event though they could do more rice (have an extra 0.5 ha) because extra harvest means more will be eaten up by rats and other animals and they will not be able to sell it. If they could sell it to a company all at once (rather than small trips to the market) it would help them earn more income.

92 | Market Development Facility

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They usually do not have enough of their own grown food for consumption in December and January because they have planted but not harvested by then. Instead they buy food. Before getting the pension, they would sell firewood to cover for the cost. The parents usually suffer more during this time. While it effects everyone they make sure that the children continue to eat normally. So if anyone is eating less, it is the parents. Children are always in school. The parents make sure to prioritise spending on their education (fees and supplies) and they only help out on the farm on Sundays or holidays.

Opportunities A major problem they face is that it is difficult to sell as there are no buyers coming to the farm gate and it is difficult to take the produce to the market oneself. They ride the microlet if needed, which costs $0.25 / bag and find it expensive. They go to the market only twice a week as it only runs on Sundays and Tuesdays, so they have to wait to take their produce to the market until those days (which is inconvenient). Prices fluctuate; sometimes they get $12 / trip for going to Baucau. The other area where they can their produce is Manatuto where they can potentially take a lot more but there is too much competition from other farmers in the area. Also they harvest vegetables but have nowhere to sell them. So if a company could buy from their gate they would be motivated to grow more vegetables. Market Access They go to the market twice per week to Baucau, which is 30 minutes away. They go once a week over the weekend (Friday – Sunday) and stay overnight in the market. When they go to Manatuto it takes 1.5 hours. They mostly go to the market for selling items. The family has a mobile phone with credit on both Timor Telecom and Telemor.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member 

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The wife of the household has the main task of taking care of the household and the children. She cooks for about one hour per meal, does the washing, collects firewood once a week and plants pumpkins and other vegetables for their own food. She does some weaving but for the household only. Her daughter sews but they do not have a machine at home. She also makes the trips to the markets to buy / sell their vegetable produce. The wife did mention that in the future they will try to get a sewing machine so that she and her daughter can start a sewing group as a business, instead of her daughter working for the nuns. She works long hours and does not feel she gets paid well for those long hours so they want to start it themselves. The husband’s main tasks are working on the farm and getting money for the family. The wife indicated that for farm items and equipment, particularly fuel for the tractor, spending decisions are made based on consultation between the couple. For livestock if the price is more than $20 they decide together, if it less than that they just decide it on their own. For food, household items, school fees (including workshops) and medicine she indicated that she decides on spending and tells him only afterwards. For social obligations they sit together and decide first and she spends on behalf of the family for church donations. She keeps the money for the household. All members of the family benefit when the income increases and priority is given to children’s schooling.

Market Development Facility | 93

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She does do some work on the farm, although mostly takes care of household tasks. She does vegetable farming for their own consumption but if there is extra they will sell it but this does not happen often. If she sells it she will use the money on food and for kids at school. She goes to the Baucau market to sell the crops and she will also go to the Manatuto market. She will also sell chickens (which sell for $20–30) and she will decide when and how if needed. However women do not do the casting of rice – this is for traditional reasons as traditionally it is not a woman’s task. Their task is cooking at home – however women will do harvesting of rice. She used to undertake volunteer work in the community but since she is now busy taking care of her kids, she does not do this anymore. She does not do any other income earning tasks, other than selling vegetables and chickens in the market – but she does want to run a business. She tried doing this before but needs more money to try again, as she could not make enough money from it the first time. She indicated they want to buy a sewing machine and start a sewing group (her and her daughters). She had been part of a sewing group before, which had a machine but left the group to try it on their own and set up the business with her daughters. She also wants to try to buy and sell rice in the district markets. But they do not have the money right now to start these so that is what is stopping her. For her, appropriate work for women outside of the house would be owning a business (rather than taking a job). This includes retailing in the district and sub-district markets. She does not have her own savings but the household does and everyone contributes to it. She said she sometimes decides when it needs to be spent and tells him afterwards. She is not part of any other groups although in prior to independence from Indonesia, they were involved with a veterans group. Last month they borrowed money from Tubaraimetin – about $1,000 and every week they pay back $5–6. They use the money to send the kids to school. They will try to borrow again for business (because the first time they could not make enough from the business). She does see successful women in the area with good businesses – similar to her selling vegetables down in the market. She wants to start her own retail as mentioned above but finance is the issue. With the sewing group she thinks her daughter can lobby others to buy their sewing items because her daughter knows who buys them (probably from her work with the nuns).

Interview of the male household member  

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The women’s main role in the household is to take care of the children and trade the crops. The husband used to cook when the spouse was going to the market but he no longer does so, as the children have grown up, and they do it instead. He still does it, if the children are out of the house. He cleans the yard and helps take care of the children and their parents. He also collects firewood and does carpentry or building work. Joint decisions are made when deciding over how the wife will spend her time, and as needs come up decisions are taken together. Decisions on all expenses are taken together. The wife buys the food, but based on joint decision of what and how much. The husband is mainly responsible for deciding the amount to spend on social obligations. All members of the household benefit when income increases e.g. they bought the children a bicycle to go to school, shoes, food and milk.

94 | Market Development Facility

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The wife in the household currently work on their own farm doing planting, weeding and harvesting. The wife also grows vegetables and does trading in both Baucau and Manatuto. She is also responsible for feeding their animals. Women are not allowed to prepare land as that is considered as a man’s work. The daughter used to work outside of the household, sewing Tais and bags (which she will go back to in the near future). The women do not do any other volunteer work. The husband indicated that women could do more work outside the house to earn money if there were opportunities. The most appropriate opportunities would be their own agribusiness (selling crops as they are currently doing); and raising chickens. It is not possible for women to take up service industry jobs. The household saves about $50 per month from the social transfers. Both husband and wife make the decision on spending it together – mostly on food and education for the children.

Eastern Interview #3 Code

District

Baucau

Suco

Bado-Ho’o, Fatubelaoli

Family size

7 [6 living in the house, one supported outside]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

4.5 ha

Sources of income

Kiosk: $3,000 revenue; $1,000 net income Fried bananas: $1,728 Rice: $2,000 revenue, $1,572 net income Bananas: $25 Candlenut: $25 Bamboo: $10 Vegetables: $100 Livestock sold as needed: maybe $200 / year

Total Annual Net Income

$4,660

Income per capita per day

$1.82

Crop Yields

Rice: 40bags (4,000kg) / 4 ha (10 bags / 1000kg / ha) Maize: 1000 cobs / 0.5 ha (2000 cobs / ha

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice: Yes Maize: Yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

Main Markets Sold

Baucau and local village

Household Expenses

$150 per month including education for daughter; sometimes send $500 per month in some months to daughter (estimate two per year).

Total Annual Household Expenses

$2,800

Expenditure per capita per day

$1.09

PPI Score

Market Development Facility | 95

Overview and Impressions Based on the impression of the house, they did not appear to be very well off, however, as the interview progressed it was discovered that they have been very successful in earning income through their businesses (kiosk and fried bananas). They also spend less on themselves in order to be able to support their daughter, who goes to university in Indonesia. The money they have is contributed to support her and often times the family will sacrifice their own needs (i.e. new clothes, etc.). They are very focused on education and although income comes from their businesses, they have also started new farming activities (selling milled rice, lumber crops (bamboo, teakwood) to help supplement their income. The discrepancy between income and expenditure seems to be a result of low expenditure. However, they do send as much money as possible i.e. up to $500 per month – to their daughter in school so any additional income goes immediately to her and is not captured in their monthly spending. Household Details  

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The household consists of seven members, six which live in the household and one daughter in Indonesia who is supported financially. The male head of the household is 40 years old, and studied up to Class 2; while his wife is also 40 (school level was not recorded). The eldest daughter (27) is at university in Indonesia, but she will finish studies and graduate next month. The eldest son (21) finished school at primary level and works on the farm at home. The other son (19) finished secondary school and applied for further studies but was not accepted. The next son (17) is in Class 2 junior high school and the last daughter / niece (8) is in Class 2 primary school. The house is made of bamboo and has earth floors. The household does not own any television, tape players / CD or radios, and does not own any clothes cupboards either. The family has at least 4.5 ha of land – 4 ha of rice and 0.5 ha of maize. The family also has non-farming income through the shop / kiosk that they run at their house. No one is currently involved in non-farming jobs – they just focus on farming and community work. The daughter in Indonesia used to work for an NGO before leaving for further education.

Aspirations for Children 

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Their eldest daughter is already at university. While some are still in school they want to support them as well to get to higher education. The parents will continue to support the children as long as they can. It is important to the family that the children get jobs after completing school. The children will one day have a family / home of their own they need to support.

Sources of Income   

The family does not receive any social transfers, nor any donations, scholarships, remittances, family support, property income or loans. The family relies on income from their kiosk and from selling of food items and from farming. Kiosk earns them a good amount of money (majority of their income). They started it with just $2000, with money taken from their daughter when she worked at the NGO. The Kiosk makes up to $20 per day (at a minimum $5 / day). That is an estimated $3,000 revenue per day, if they sell $12.50 per day for 240 days a year. Net income could be estimated at $1,000 (if we consider the $2,000 was needed as the initial stocking cost). They also cook and sell fried bananas at the school nearby – from this they make $10 extra per day (maximum) during the

96 | Market Development Facility

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school year, so can earn an extra $1,728 per year from selling bananas at the school (if sell $8 per day for 216 days of the school year). Income from farming is detailed below.

Farming Activities and Income 

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The land is lowland. They grow banana, candlenut, rice, maize, coconut, teakwood, bamboo, mango and vegetables. They grow these crops because they need them themselves first and foremost and it is also tradition – what they grew up growing. Rice: ˗

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Rice is planted on 4 ha of land and sometimes planted twice a year depending on the rain. They plant the Nacroma variety. Harvests 40 bags off on the 4 ha and each bag is 100kg, so harvest 4,000kg in a year. They will lose some to rats (about two sacks worth) and they store it in cement bags. They sell about 20 bags each year – and retail in cans of 500g (for $0.5 per can). So in a year they probably earn $2,000 revenue from selling rice. Rice is sold to Baucau district market as milled rice. They pay $0.75 to mill for 20kgs, so they pay about $75 to mill for all the rice they sell) They sell after harvest i.e. during July and August and will continue to sell each week until it runs out – it usually takes about eight weeks to sell all. The price is set by the market – everyone buys and sells rice. They carry it to the market once per week on the microlet, which costs $1 per bag and they take 10 (small) bags at a time each week (for eight weeks that would be $80 worth of transport to sell all the rice.) They use fertilizers (both white and black), and rent a hand tractor for preparation. They use 11 cans of seeds and the fee for the hand tractor is based on the number of cans of seeds planted (the hand tractor owner was there to confirm this). It costs $20 per can. They plant 11 cans on their land so pay $220 for the hand tractor and an extra $5 for 5 l of fuel. If they share their yield with the hand tractor owner they do not have to pay in any other amount.

Banana: they sell banana in Baucau market, (1 bunch for $0.40 on average). During the year they only get about $25 total from selling bananas. Candlenut: have 10 trees and collect 2-3 bags per year, which they dry themselves and sell in the village. The price is usually $1 / kg but drops to $0.80 / kg sometimes. After trying and opening they get just one bag of 25 kg – so earn $25 per year. Maize: plant 0.5 ha once per year in October and November (with harvest in February and March). They get 20 bunches (of 50 cobs each so 1,000 cobs) but use it to eat and to feed the five pigs that they have, so do not sell any. They do not use any fertilizers and chemicals as the soil is already fertile for maize. Coconut: have about 50 trees, just planted. Do not sell anymore because no one was buying it so just feed it to the pigs now. Teakwood: have 10 trees, just planted so will sell in the future. Bamboo: have 20 groups of bamboo trees, they have had for four years but only sell as others need it. They sold $10 worth last year (10 trunks at a $1 per trunk). Mango: have about 10-20 trees which are new and they may sell in the future. Vegetables: plant 1 ha on the rice fields during the dry season but it depends on the weather. They sell in the market and get about $20 at a time – they get $100 total for the year off the 1 ha from selling in Baucau market. They sell during July, August and September depending on when they harvest. They usually do not have a problem selling vegetables as there are a lot of buyers. However during vegetable season people are all planting so they do not think they can expand vegetables because they would not be able to sell them.

Market Development Facility | 97

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They use urea, which costs $40 per bag and they use two bags on rice only. If rice is attacked by insects, they will buy chemicals – but last year they did not have this problem so did not buy (if they buy it is $3 for small bottle, and $5 for a big one). They will also buy poison for rats – which costs $0.50 – $1 per bag and they use eight bags (so $8 total for rat poison). They buy these supplies from traders who come to the village. There are a few other local sellers, and sometimes the priest will bring some to the village, as even though he lives outside the area, his farm is down the road. Traders come so it is easy to buy but whether or not they buy and use fertilizers and chemicals depends on the traders visit. There are other options as mentioned in dire need. MAF has stopped supplying fertilizers – they used to purchase them from MAF (not free) but they have now stopped selling them. They do not buy any seeds, as seeds are available for free from MAF. The microlet does not come down their road. A truck comes once per week (every Wednesday) to the main road. If they go to the market, they go on Wednesday (market is on Thursday) and they sometimes have to spend a few days there to catch the return truck back (at least one night). All crops are rain-fed. Hence, it can be an issue if the rice is not properly dried because of untimely / excessive rain, or is not given appropriate amount of water due to lack of rain or lack of water. They use river water but cannot get enough for their fields if there is too little rain. In the village, they prioritise areas for using the water so that it is evenly distributed, meaning some will get water, while others would not if they seem to have enough for their fields. They will use labour to help on farms for planting – mostly hiring students for a half day at a time. They will hire 10 students for two days paying $2 per day plus lunch after school. That is $40 total for hired labour. They always find enough students to help with labour. Relatives will also help harvest and they pay them in rice. Children help out on the farm but only after school. MAF gives out seeds, but most in this area do not know their real role because they hardly see them. No information is given on new practices, so farmers only does what they know. But this family would be interested in learning more. This year they suspect poor yields and therefore income from farming will be worse because of water issues. Some farmers have abandoned their fields in this area because of inadequate rain and so are growing less rice.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses  

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They focus on growing rice, so they can fulfil their needs from their own farm. They do no buy rice. They do not buy other staple foods as they also grow maize and some cassava. Each month they send money to their daughter in Indonesia for school – they will send up to $500 per month. But they usually spend $150 per month (which includes household spending and money sent to daughter). To fund this they use money from the rice and vegetables sold, and also sell their pigs or buffaloes if needed. They have a female pig so they get 5-6 piglets per year, which are sold for a couple hundred each. They sold all their buffalo to fund her schooling and their horse so they only have one buffalo left. They are concerned that she will one day get married and be taken away and they paid quite a bit for her education. Education is the most important and biggest expense for the family. They do not save money and if they ever have extra money they send it to their daughter.

98 | Market Development Facility

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They usually get enough money out of selling their livestock. They also find other ways to get money by selling anything they can. Next month they have to send $1,000 to their daughter for her graduation so they have been saving what they are earning for that. The family does not have any agricultural equipment, motorbikes, cars, bicycles or other major household appliances. The family does not do any pre-planning for spending, but they just put money together and spend as the children need it and keep track of how much was spent afterwards.

Opportunities 

They feel they would make more money if a company would come to buy the crops on a permanent basis – they would also be more interested in growing more items. Right now to just grow and transport it to the market is too much work to expand into more production.

Market Access 

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They go by truck once per week but have to stay down in the market for a night to catch the truck back. They could walk to main road and take microlet but they are quite far from the main road. It takes 1–1.5 hours to get to Baucau market. They mostly go to the market to sell their items. The family owns a mobile phone.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member 

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The wife’s main tasks are cooking, taking care of children and doing business in the market (selling crops). She spends an hour cooking (likely per meal), and wakes up at 4am to make the bananas that they sell in school. She spends about a half hour cleaning and takes care of kids when they are finished with school. Twice a week she collects firewood and water is right up at the house so they do not need to collect it. One of her major responsibilities is planting and she works on the vegetable farm after the rice harvest. The husband’s main tasks are to take care of the animals, run the kiosk and farm rice during the rainy season. The wife is not permitted by her husband to look for work outside of the house and her main tasks are household tasks and selling vegetables in the market. The wife indicated that they decide most things together on spending. It includes farm items, livestock, household items, school fees, social obligations and church donations (the latter two they will put money together with other family members to make up the amount needed depending on the event). She decides on purchasing and selling vegetables and then tells him afterwards. Her younger brother is a doctor so they get his advice before buying medicines and then decide together. All members benefit from increase in income – they focus on meeting the children’s needs and everyone will get what they need. But they are also careful not to be too generous with spending the money. Agricultural work that she does is farming vegetables and selling them in the Baucau market. She brings the money earned back to the house and puts it together with the rest of the household money to spend as needed. She is also involved in deciding when to sell the chicken pigs and horse with the husband. After the sale the money goes to the daughters’ education in Indonesia.

Market Development Facility | 99

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In her view it is not appropriate for women to work on the farm except for with vegetables. Vegetables are her task only. She also cooks and sells bananas to earn income and the money earned goes to the household. She does not do any volunteer work as the village is very far away, she is not a part of any group or association, and they did participate in a NGO programme once but only to get the water pipeline up to the house. She has never taken microfinance. The household has savings for the daughter’s graduation (they need to send $1000 next month) – otherwise it does not seem like they have long-term savings.

Interview of the male household member 

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The husband’s tasks around the household include supporting the firewood collection (but not cooking), helping prepare foods for processing, cleaning the house, taking food to the children in the school, taking care of the mother-in-law when she comes to visit, getting water and supporting wife with vegetable farming. He also takes care of animal feed. The husband views the wife’s main role in the household to be cooking and delivering food while the husband is in the field. She is expected to prepare meals three times a day which takes about one hour each. The decision over what women do is based according to each role – there is a common understanding amongst them about how tasks are distributed between men and women. Decisions are taken together on most items. The wife keeps the money but they decide together on farm items, livestock, household items, school fees, social obligations (joining together with other families). The wife decides herself on food purchases, medicines / medical expenses, and church donations. All members benefit when household income increases. They prioritise school fees first rather than clothing or anything else – meaning they actually do not purchase other things like clothes in order to send more money to the daughter attending university. He has indicated that women do all sorts of work on the farm – including cultivating and harvesting for vegetables and helping with rice harvesting. His wife helps him with cultivation and weeding and is mainly responsible for selling the vegetables in the market. She also is responsible for feeding their chicken (6) and pigs (5). The only thing women are restricted from doing is carrying heavy equipment. The wife does work outside the house to earn money – frying bananas for sale. But he indicated that she should concentrate her work in the household and on running this small business to support the family. The only work acceptable for women to earn more money for the household is more work on the family farm and work in the family business. The family does not have savings.

Eastern Interview #4 Code

District

Viqueque

Suco

Macadique, Kampung Baru

Family size

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

1 ha – 2 ha

Sources of income

Palm wine: $780 Cassava leaves: $52

100 | Market Development Facility

Code

22 Rice grown as labour on other’s farm: $15

Total Annual Net Income

$847

Income per capita per day

$0.21

Crop Yields

Rice: 30 cans / 0.5 ha Maize: 90 cobs / 1 ha

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

Rice: 600kg or 24 bags per year ($408) Maize: 20 bunches per year ($150)

Main Markets Sold

Not Sold

Household Expenses

$50 – $60 per month Including $16 / month on school fees Rice grown as labour: $15

Total Annual Household Expenses

$675

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.17

PPI Score

Calculation for rice grown as labour: Based on estimate from field interview in Maliana – 65 cans make up a large sack of 50kg. Each can is estimated at .75kg. If 25kg of imported rice sells for $17 that is $0.68 per kilo. If we apply the imported price (subsidised price) to the home-grown rice (30 cans) it comes to approximately $15. Overview and Impressions This was definitely the poorest family interviewed in Baucau and Viqueque. The family does not have good land and relies on the husband and wife as farm labour to earn food and money for the family. Very little money is earned from activities and they are able to get food as payment for farm labour. The household also has a large number of children who are young, which restricts how much work the mother can do on the farm – and her husband is away for three weeks each month as a shepherd. The family did not have strong aspirations for supporting their children to go to school, particularly for higher education – which would be expected, given the low income level of the family. Household Details 



The household consists of a man, his wife and their nine children. They have 10 kids in total but one daughter (21) is married and has three children of her own. Three of them (the two eldest daughters, including the one which is married and one son) are actually their nieces / nephews but who have been raised and taken care of by this family. Those living in this household include: the husband and wife (she is in her 30s but we did not get either of their ages confirmed). The children in the house include: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

Daughter (niece, 19 years) who stopped school at Class 1 Primary; Son (15) in Grade 1 junior high; Son (nephew, 15) in Grade 1 junior high; Son (12) in Class 4 primary; Son (age unknown but likely 10 or 11) in Class 3 primary; Daughter (7) in Class 2 primary; Son (4) in Class 1 primary; Son (3) in kindergarten;

Market Development Facility | 101

˗    

Son, baby under 1 year.

The highest level of schooling reached by the husband is Class 2 of Junior High; the wife did not go to school. The house is made of bamboo with earth floors. The house does not own any televisions, tape / CD players, or radios; nor do they own any cupboards. The house has land but does not know how big – based on the area that was described, which we observed – it can be estimated to be up to 2 ha. They have maize fields but no rice. No one in the house has had a wage or non-farming job and they have never tried looking (not even the older daughters) for one either.

Aspirations for Children 



How far the children will go in school depends on each one – not sure how far their educational abilities will take them. Going beyond secondary school also depends on the finances, so they are not sure they will make it beyond secondary. They will try to support the children to get through school so they can hopefully get a better job.

Sources of Income 



 

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The family does not receive any social transfers, and although they had applied for it, they were denied. They do not receive any scholarships, donations, remittances, property income or loans. The husband is a shepherd and looks after someone else’s cattle – he is away for three weeks every month attending the cows. He does not get paid but for every 2-3 years he works he gets one buffalo (worth $700). He has been doing this work for more than two years now so expects to get a buffalo soon. Once they get the buffalo it will be small so it will take time to grow – if they sell when it’s small they could get up to $500 but if they wait two years they could get $700. They will sell it to sustain the family and pay for children’s schooling. The wife mostly looks after their own crops which are described below. To earn income the family sells white palm wine – they make about $5–10 once or twice per week from selling. If they do not sell it then they will drink it themselves. They use the money for children’s clothes and school fees. So they can earn a maximum of $780 per year (if they sell white palm wine, on average they will secure $10 per week for 5two weeks). The wife tries to sell cassava leaves once or twice per week. She only sells the leaves because the soil is not fertile so they do not grow properly. She can get $1–2 per week from this activity, so likely no more than $52 per year.

Farming Activities and Income   



The land they have for maize is lowland. However it is next to the river and the soil is very sandy so it is no good for farming. Rice: They use ‘rented’ land which is also lowland for rice farming. They will start again in March this year depending on the water. The land belongs to a neighbour in the village and they essentially work on it and keep only half of the rice – with the other half going to the land owner. They are the only family working on that land and it is 0.5 ha. They plant once a year around April / May. Both the husband and wife work on the rice farm – they help prepare land and help out with other activities. The wife cast the rice and replant and carry the harvest home. They use a hand-tractor (which is the land-owners) so they do not pay extra for that. The land owner

102 | Market Development Facility

    

 



 



manages the farm – it seems they work as labour as directed. They work once season per year from March to June. After harvest they get 15 cans of their share (so on 0.5 ha they get 30 cans total – assuming it actually is split evenly). They eat all of the rice and do not sell any. They do lose some to rats, and the spoiled ones are fed to the chickens. On average one out of 15 cans are lost to spoilage as they are stored in an open shed. They have some banana trees, they keep some bananas for themselves and send the rest to other family members. They have maize but do not know how much land is planted. It is probably no more than 0.5 to 1 ha. They plant it once per year in November and harvest in February and March. Both husband and wife work on maize. They get three big bundles of maize (each big bundle is 30 cobs, so 90 cobs total). They eat all of it and only a little is lost to rats. They grow cassava but for eating the leaves only. They do not use any fertilizers or chemicals – as they are not available to them. While some families in the village have them, MAF is not sharing widely. They do not know where else to buy them – no one nearby is selling them and if they could find some they would use fertilizers because it would be good for maize cultivation. They use their own seeds and do not use any other labour. The wife does not go to the market because she is busy taking care of the babies. They cannot grow much on the land which is sandy so they just grow maize and use the other land for rice. They do not sell because they can hardly get enough. They want to try to find more land but all the land around them is owned and there is none available. They have had some bad floods from the nearby river – three times in the past (they live right on the river) which destroyed everything but they have no choice but to stay here. This is their traditional / old / family house, so they do not want to move. When it flooded they lost everything (animals, crops, etc.). When this happens, the family tries to move to higher ground until it recedes. The government did block the banks of the river to help with floods, so they will stay. They did not get any other assistance from the government when the floods came. Another major issue they face is water – mainly not enough rain. When asked if they want to try to sell anything to earn money she said they do have animals (chickens) but they use those just to eat because no one wants to buy. Sometimes they take them to the market but no one buys them because everyone around here keeps their own chickens. MAF does give seeds for free (but of a different variety). The household prefers the local variety of maize because this new variety does not have a long enough, and it spoils soon after harvest. MAF staff did visit their house, and also provided them with information on how to plant rice. There is a general expectation that since MAF is giving out information on cultivation practices, they will also send someone to buy the crop after the harvest, which does not happen.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 

Whether they can get enough food from their farm depends on the rain. They sometimes get enough but usually buy rice once a month. They use money from Palm wine income to buy more rice. They buy two bags every month (25kg – so 24 bags per year or 600kg). If we estimate $17 per bag that is $408 per year on rice. They buy rice from neighbours or from the local market (which is generally imported rice). Even with their own harvest they sometimes have to buy every month.

Market Development Facility | 103



They sometimes buy maize as well – twice per year for $18 – $20 per bag although this can go up to $25. Neighbours sell at a high price and take advantage of others when there is a shortage, so they spend probably $100 -$200 per year on purchasing maize.



They buy enough food to feed everyone so that they do not have to reduce the amount eaten. But they will borrow money if they do not have any and will pay it back after selling palm wine. They send their kids to private school because the public school is far away, so they pay for private school in the village. They pay $2 / month / student in school fees. Overall they spend about $50 – $60 per month total on household living including school fees. School fees are the most important expenditure and all of the school expenses combined make the biggest expenditure (fees, uniform which is most expensive, school supplies, etc.). They do not own any farm equipment, motorbike, car, bicycle, kitchen or household appliances. The family does not budget or pre-plan their money. Income is so small and it is not fixed so they just spend what they can when they have it. They also do not track what they spend. It can be difficult to get enough money (selling cassava and palm wine) so they save money as they get it until they need to buy food. They will also borrow from neighbours and sometimes pay interest and sometimes do not. It is also hard for them because they have their children in school and spend about $50 – $60 per month at least half the year for all costs). They do not save regularly –in some months when they get more income than at other times they hold on to it until they need to spend it. But in general they spend everything and have no extra savings for the long term.

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

Market Access   

The village market gathers every Tuesday and Friday. There is also a market in the neighbouring village which is 0.5km away. The wife goes primarily to sell cassava leaves but also to buy other things. She goes every week. They do not have a cell phone (they are all broken) but her daughter does – they recharge $1 / month but right now it has no credit.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member 

  

The wife’s main role is to take care of the children and be a housewife. She helps on the farm and plants maize and cassava. She helps plant rice when husband is back as he is away most of the time. She cooks, cleans and looks after the kids – but the older kids will look after the younger ones when she needs to go to the field. The husband’s main role is to make palm wine (the money is used to bear their children’s expenses). He is also away three weeks each month tending cows. They work together but each has their different ‘natural’ or traditional role – and each member is aware of his / her duties. Both the husband and wife generally make spending decisions together, usually informing each other before taking independent decisions. Usually, the husband decides on farm items but informs the wife beforehand; she takes decisions on buying / selling of livestock, household items, and food, and does the same. They both decide tighter on school fees, medical expenses, social and church obligations. She handles and keeps the physical money.

104 | Market Development Facility

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All members benefit when income increases – but they focus on the elder children who are in junior high school, spending more on their needs. The wife works on the family farm and works as labour on another (rice arrangement). Women are not prohibited from doing any farm activity. She does volunteer work in the village on Saturdays to clean (both men and women do it). She is not part of any association, group or program – she stays at home because of her children. She is willing to do more activities to earn income for the household but cannot because she has so many kids. If she could she would do weaving, and she feels that weaving is the best opportunity for women (her) to earn additional money. They do not have long-term savings but spend money as needed. She does see other women in the village who are successful – they have businesses (kiosks) through which they sell goods, something they started on their own. She has too many kids to do something like that.

Interview of the male household member The husband was not present during the interview as he was away for two weeks tending the cows.

Eastern Interview #5 Code

District

Viqueque

Suco

Macadique, Kaidawa-lari

Family size

11 [6 in household 11 supported financially]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

2 ha+

Sources of income

Social transfer (old age pension): $720 Buffalo: $700 – $1350 Petrol: $30 Rice: $1,000 Mung: $400 Costs – transport $2 / bag for 10 bags = $20

Total Annual Net Income

$3155

Income per capita per day

$0.78

Crop Yields

Rice: 1,000 cans / 2 ha Mung: 400kg / 1 ha

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Yes – all crops

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

Main Markets Sold

Local village

Household Expenses

$150 – $200 per month including schooling

Total Annual Household Expenses

$2,100

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.52

PPI Score

Market Development Facility | 105

Overview and Impressions This household appeared very well off given the type of house, and what they owned. They are also able to send three children to Dili to university and support the family of their daughter there. They are self-sufficient in food, and are able to sell a good amount of rice for income throughout the year. They also have a large stock of livestock which they rely on for income. They family is very education focused and the father very active to ensure his kids do not have to rely on farming for their own families. He seems to have worked hard and planned for this purpose. They are also very active in trying to earn more money (planting new things, taking crops to Dili, etc.), have good yields and fertile land so no doubt they could, however they struggle to sell and are in a very far location (1 – 1.5 hours outside of Viqueque town) so do not have many options to take to bigger markets. Household Details There were eleven people in total in the family which are supported financially. There are only six which live in the household currently (although the others are all financially supported). They include the husband and wife (both 60+ years old). The male head of household went to Class 4 primary and the wife did not attend any school. The children include:     



Daughter (25) married with her husband (30) and their two children – a Son (1) and Daughter (3). The daughter went to Grade 2 junior high and her husband finished secondary high school. Daughter (23), her husband (not recorded) and their son (9 months), who currently do not live in the household but are financially supported by the parents; Daughter (20) who is in university in Dili. Son (18) who is in university in Dili. The house is made of concrete with concrete floors. The family does own a TV however does not have any clothes cupboards. They lost everything they had during a conflict in 2007 when their house was burned down. So they are still recovering and just built this concrete house last year. They sold 20 buffalo (worth approximately $14,000 total) in order to build the house last year. He said he is getting older and his dream is to leave a good house for his family so he decided to do that now. The family has at least 2 ha under cultivation (of rice) although probably has more as they have grown maize in the past but no longer do so, as the father is sick. He also indicated that they grow cassava on possibly 1 ha. Everyone in the household is currently working in agriculture (or in school so not working). The father is the main farmer – however his son-in-law who lives at home is taking over farming responsibilities now because he is sick.

Aspirations for Children 

 

The head of the household is getting older and he is sending his children to school by selling livestock because he wants them to complete their studies. Three of them are already in university. The family is optimistic that they will graduate from university because they have good marks. His son was very smart, with good marks and had no issues getting into university. His dream for his kids is that he can continue supporting them if they want to keep going with studies (even if want to continue to MA or PhD, he wants to support them). He does not want his son to become a farmer – and wants to be sure that farming in the family stops with himself. So he hopes his kids will stay in the capital and work and not come back to the farm.

106 | Market Development Facility

Sources of Income 

Both the husband and wife receive old age pensions. They receive $30 per person per month (picking it up every six months) and have received it for the last three years. In total they make $720 per year – and they put that money together and use it for their children’s schooling.

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No one has ever looked for work before – they only rely on farming. The son-in-law said when he was not married he was looking for work but now that he is married he is farming to sustain his family. He said it was difficult to find a job when he was looking before. For income they sell rice, mung bean, maize, and tried to sell cassava but it spoiled because no one bought it and it was too much. They have 30 buffaloes and also sell cattle. They receive no other donations, scholarships, remittances, gifts, property income or loans.

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The son-in-law sells petrol on the side of the road, but only makes $10 per barrel of net income and sells about three barrels per year, so $30 total per year. The family also sells livestock – they say they sell depending on when they need money. They have 30 heads of buffalo now, and might sell one in a month if needed. They started rearing their livestock in 1986 and started selling in 1996. They sold 20 last year to build the house which is way more than normal. Normally they sell 1–2 in a year (so $700 – $1400 per year). Details on farming activities are given below.

Farming Activities and Income The land is lowland. They plant rice, mung beans and cassava (although stopped cultivating maize and cassava). They do not grow vegetables because they are too far away from markets to sell them. 

Rice: ˗



For rice land, they share labour with others – they work themselves (landlord); use labourers; and tractor owner (hand-tractor). They share the harvest equally (the family keeps 300 cans and gives 700 to the other two parties). ˗

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Rice is planted on 2 ha of land. Took one tonne of rice to Dili last year and tried to sell it but could not so now it is with their children in Dili. Their total harvest is 1000 cans (the 20L cans) for the year.

The family keeps 100 cans for consumption – because they also eat cassava and banana so does not only consume rice. They sell the other 200 cans. No one around here buys the rice very often because all families are growing it, so they have to go farther to sell it. They can sell for $5 / can in the villages (so $1000 total if they sell in the villages). Prices are always the same. They tried taking it Dili (10 bags i.e. about one tonne) and tried to sell for $40-$50 per sack, but there is too much rice in Dili and no one would buy it. If they get more, then they will sell it.

Rice is stored in cement bags and rats eat only a very small amount. Mung bean is planted on 1 ha of the rice fields after rice is harvested from June onwards. They probably get eight bags of 50kg each (so 450kg total) but are not positive. They cannot eat all – and only finish one bag themselves. They sell the rest (about 400kg) in small heaps locally (for $0.20 per 200grams). They took to Dili to sell to market traders but had trouble selling it. The government promised someone would buy it but they never found a company to buy it. They sell all seven bags, so earn about ($400 total). Cassava: they got seeds last year from MAF but they did not find a market to sell the cassava so a lot of it was spoiled (they planted 1 ha total). They were huge roots and they fed it to the pigs, ate some and then gave to neighbours for their pigs as well.

Market Development Facility | 107

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They generally take the bus when carrying their produce to be sold to Dili– which costs $2 / bag including one passenger. He indicated that they took 10 bags to Dili i.e. the last time they went to try and sell. They do not use fertilizers because the soil is fertile already. They do use chemicals but they get them free from MAF. They use red seeds for rice and use their own seeds for other crops. As mentioned above they do use paid labour – but pay in 1 / 3 of their rice crop. Sometimes they run out of chemicals, so the MAF provides them with ‘traditional methods’ to kill insects – but those do not work. The pests they get are those that come just at the harvest time (not sure what they are called). In this area it is easy to get labour – but what is important is to pay fairly. MAF has given the family free seeds (and chemicals) before but never bought the produce as promised.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses  

 

The family is self-sufficient in rice. The only buy sugar, coffee, oil, etc. Per month they spend about $150–200 per month including all of the university fees. If they do not have enough money to cover those expenses they sell a buffalo (which is $700–800 for one). They easily spend more than 1,000 in a year. Biggest expenses are the school fees and rent for their children in university in Dili. Most important expenses are school fees. The family does not have any farm equipment, car, or bicycle. The son-in-law does own a motorbike which he bought in 2009. The family has a refrigerator, kettle and modern stove, which they bought when they were building the house last year. Before spending money they decide together but no pre-budgeting is done. They only plan on a day-to-day basis. They rarely have extra money, except for the times when they sell cattle.

Opportunities They have thought of increasing the size of their farm and controlling better for insects to get more money from their crops. This year they are not planting maize but they are willing to plant it again provided a company comes and buys it from them. A company is better as a buyer because they buy in bulk and they buy it immediately when it is harvested. Taking it to retail in markets takes time (and maybe not sell all at once). They would coordinate their planting if they had a company buying from them. Market Access 



They go mostly to the Suco market, and sometimes to the neighbouring village. They walk for about thirty minutes to the nearest e market. They go mostly to sell but are not always able to sell what they take. They go twice per week (and if they go to a few different markets they end up spending up to six days per week in the markets). Their son-in-law has a mobile phone.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member 

The wife’s main tasks are preparing food (one hour per meal) and taking food to the rice field for the men.

108 | Market Development Facility

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The husband’s main tasks are farming and taking care of the livestock. The wife claims that she decides how to spend her time on daily activities and on activities outside the household. They both decide on spending together but when breaking down individual items, it seems rather than decisions being shared they are divided by domain- the husband decides on spending on farm items, livestock, school fees and church donations. She decides on household items, food and medical needs, and the wife not only decides but goes to buy herself. Together they have a meeting to decide on social obligations. The wife keeps the physical money. If they have an increase in income they save it and then spend it as needs arise. She is also involved in work on the farm – her tasks include casting rice, harvesting rice, going to the market to sell two times per week, and keeping and selling chickens in the market. Any money she earns, she brings it back to the household pot. Women are not restricted from doing any farming tasks and can do everything. When she was younger she did some weaving but did not sell it. If she had to do more work, she would want to do sewing but her eyesight is not good enough, so she had to stop. She does not do any other volunteer work and is not a part of any NGO program, association or group. Appropriate work in her opinion outside of the household is selling livestock and rice at the market. She used to save money if they had extra, but then they spent it all on building their house. So the household does not have savings any longer but whenever they get extra money from something they spend it right away usually on the children.

Interview of the male household member 

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 

According to the husband, his wife’s main roles are cooking, cultivating and harvesting. She performed these tasks when she was young but now she is getting older. They need someone younger to perform these tasks and want someone else to join the family to help out. The husband helps out in cooking when she is sick or out of the house or when is away shepherding the animals because he does not come home in between for meals; he cleans the yard and takes care of the children and now grandchildren. He collects firewood in the bush and rents a car to carry it home. He also feeds chickens and pigs. He decides what the other family member should be doing with their time. The husband indicated that almost all decisions are made together except for food his wife decides on her own. However, spending decisions on social obligations are taken together with other families. When there is any increase in income, priority is given to the children for better schooling. Women do various agricultural work including cultivating and harvesting (his daughter also helps); selling crops in the market; and raising chickens and pigs. There are no restrictions for women to work on the land – they do everything if they want to, including preparing of the land. Women in his household do not do other work (but maybe his educated daughters will someday take up jobs outside the household). The husband also mentioned that women in the house cannot do work (agricultural or other) to earn more money around the house – except for with support of men – this is particularly applicable to his household because his wife is getting older and his daughters are married and need to take permission (from their husbands).

Market Development Facility | 109

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Appropriate work for women would be working on their own farm, selling the crops, having their own business or poultry and livestock. Women do some volunteering for the water pipelines in the community. He said they do have savings at a bank in Dili for their son but the husband decides how to spend this money.

Eastern Interview #6 Code

District

Viqueque

Suco

Bahalarauain

Family size

6 [6 in household supported in full or in part]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

2 ha +

Sources of income

Social Transfer: $720 Coconuts Sales $200 Betel nut Sales = $300 Cow =$500 Chicken =$60 Costs: Tractor $60 Weeding rice $60 Weeding maize $60 Rice milling $175

Total Annual Net Income

$1,425

Income per capita per day

$0.65 per person per day

Crop Yields

500 cans of 2o litres

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice: Yes Maize: Yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold

No market

Household Expenses

Yearly expense $600-$1,200 depending social obligations

Total Annual Household Expenses

$600-$1,200

Expenditure per capita per day

$0,27-$0,55

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions Overall the household has land on which they farm rice and maize. They are self-sufficient in both rice and maize, however, they are not able to sell it as most of the families grow these two crops, hence, and no one is willing to buy it. The family is engaged in selling betel nut and coconut but they are experiencing a drop in price every year. They would like to see a buyer to come in and buy their produce form the farm gate. With the proceeds of more sale they would like to intensify cultivation and would also like to sell more coconut and betel nut. This family lives close to the market, and also gets access to MAF extension officers. The information they get from the MAF officers has been very useful.

110 | Market Development Facility

Household Details   

    

The head of household is over 60 years old and never went to school. His wife is also more than 60 and never went to school. They have four children as follows: One daughter who lives with two children but no husband Three sons of which one is not married and is fully supported by the family and the other two sons live independently without any financial support from the family- one lives and works in Dili as a taxi-driver and the other who recently got married lives next door. There are six family members currently living in the household. The eldest grandchild is 15, who is currently in third grade of junior high school and the other grandchild is 6, who is in first grade of primary school. The house is made of bamboo with roof palm leaves and earth floors. They have a television and a tape recorder. They do not have any cupboards. They have 2 ha of land for crops which is used for rice (1) and maize (1). The rice land was given by the village chief. No one in the household has ever had a wage paying (or non-wage non farming) job. They are permanently farming (rice and maize) for employment.

Aspirations for Children The head of the household’s children attended but later abandoned schools. He does not want this happen to his granddaughters. He pays schools fees of granddaughters by selling coconuts. He hopes that they will continue to higher education. They opened a new savings account (Ira Luca). Higher education costs a lot of money but they will work to get the money. He hope that his grandchildren will get jobs after finishing school and he does not expect them to work on the land after finishing school. Sources of Income 



Both husband and wife receive social transfer for elderly people. Everyone receives $30 / monthly but they take every six months amounting to $180 at a time. They use the elderly fund to pay school fees, buying supplies (coffee, milk etc.) for themselves, paying labour for weeding and renting hand tractor. The labour for weeding is $3 a day per person, including meals for 4-5 people during 4-5 days. There is no problem in finding labour. The hand tractor is rented at $60 for 1 ha, not including fuel. It was indicated that the tractor was used for rice but was not indicate if it was used for maize. They do not receive any donations, charity or scholarships, charity form churches, NGOs or international organisations. They receive remittance from one of his sons who is currently in Dili, but use his contribution for social obligations. They do not have access to loans. Income from farming activities is detailed below.

Farming Activities and Income  

They have 2 ha of total land which is low land. Rice: They plant rice on 1 ha. The land was given / provided by the village chief. They plant the Siam variety of rice once a year in March and harvest in July or August. From the land they harvest 500 cans of 20 litres every year. They consume all because there is no one that buys. They cannot finish eating all of it during a year. There are still 150 cans leftover. They store the rice in bags of cement. They lose some amount of rice mainly from rat spoilage, but they only eat a little, 10 cans or so. They send around five cans to their sons in Dili. They mill rice at 50 cents per can of 20 litres. There are four people of his family that work in the farm.

Market Development Facility | 111

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 

The irrigation scheme is broken and every year 30 people get water from the Be’e Tuku River. Attack from rats and insects is the main problem. There is no problem finding chemical to kill insects. Maize: They plant maize in 1 ha land which is rain-fed. The husband, the wife and their children work on the farm, clearing the land, cultivating, weeding. They plant in the month of November and harvest in March. They use own seeds (Mutin). They do not use fertilizers as they believe the soil is fertile. The yield for maize is about 100 bunches. They do not sell maize, as no one buys it. They eat maize and also feed chicken and pigs. They store in bunches tied up hanging in the kitchen. They lose about 5-10 bunches. They give it away only when the son in Dili asks, otherwise, they do not give it away. He and his family members work on the maize farm and sometimes use labour of 5-10 people for 4-5 days. There is no problem finding labour. The main constraint for growing maize is the rats attack, but poisons are given by the government to combat this. They also have 400 coconut trees planted on his own land (but does not know size). Every three months they harvest 400 kg. Last year they only sold 400 kg at 15 cents a kilo. They said the price for coconut drops from year to year. They used to get a good price prior to independence from Indonesia i.e. 50 cents a kilo. They could do one ton in a year but the buyers did not come. They use coconut to make oil but consume it and do not sell. In the month of March the coconut trees have much more fruits. The household also grows betel nuts. They have 40 trees. The betel nuts are only collected once a year. The yield of the betel nut is usually higher when it rains more. They get information from the government extension officers in the village. They are very useful.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses       

The yield from their land is enough for eating in a year and sometimes they have leftover. They do not buy food for the family. The family sells 20 bunches of betel nut every year. One bunch is sold at $15 each. The family has four water buffalo and 11 cows. Last year they sold one cow at $500 and used the money for funeral. They usually sell one if needed. The family also sells chicken (fighting cocks) to village chief. Last year he sold cock fighters worth of $60 in total. The family has eight pigs but did not sell any last year. They want to sell but the price is too low. They prefer to sell pigs to gather money for funeral only. They have eight goats but those are not for selling. They keep these livestock just in case for funerals or other needs. They spend $100 dollars monthly on everything including social obligations and $50 otherwise for basic needs such as coffee, sugar and schools fees.

Opportunities They are not making much income because the prices are not good for their produces. When asked about ideas to get more money, the farmer said that they will make more money if they have someone buying what they produce. They will plant more and more on the land if they can sell to buyers. Market Access 

The household lives close to the village road that is linked to the neighbouring villages. Their house is located about 30 km from the main road that connects the west coast of Viqueque. It

112 | Market Development Facility



is a 30–45 minute drive to Viqueque and approximately six hours’ drive to Dili. The condition of the road is rough in some parts, with patches of soil road in many parts. The family does not have a mobile phone to communicate. The family lives nearby the village market on the main road. The village market has weekly market every Wednesday and Sunday. The family goes to market only when they want to buy coffee, sugar and other things. They only need to walk 15 minutes to reach the market. People from other villages are also coming to that market. The family does not own any farm equipment, except a spade. They do not own a motorbike, car, or bicycle and nor do they own any household appliances. The area is in its way to get electrical wires currently.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member   

 

The wife’s main responsibilities are cooking, making coconut oil, collecting firewood and helping on the farm for harvesting and casting. The husband’s main responsibilities are taking care of the livestock and helping with collecting firewood. The wife decides on everything from farming items and buying equipment, livestock purchase or sales, household items, food purchases, school fees, medicines, social obligations and church donation. The wife sometimes sells coconut oil and keeps the money ($5) until family needs it. The wife is not a part of any other group, association or NGO program, but she does volunteer at the church.

Interview of the male household member    

 

The husband is not responsible for cooking and processing food. He cleans the yard area, takes care of the grandchildren; brings firewood while returning from the field. He does not collect water. According to him, the main role of women is cooking, taking care of the house and helping men in the field in planting, chasing away birds, harvesting, and carrying harvested rice / maize to the house. The husband decides on the roles and responsibilities of the wife. The husband decides with input from his spouse when they buy new tools / equipment for farming. He consults his wife prior to taking livestock purchase or sale decisions. Joint decisions are taken on household items, food purchases, and school fees for the children and for medicines. The amount for social obligations is decided together and jointly with larger family. For donations to the church, decisions are also taken together. When there is an increase in income, they buy clothes for both parents and children. They are all essential. Asked if women in his household could earn money, the husband mentioned that the women would earn money if there were people to buy their farm produce. They will work more on planting anything provided there is a demand from the buyers. Type of agricultural work women can do: planting and harvesting, selling betel nut, seeling coconut, raising chicken and pigs. Women in the village are not restricted to work in agricultural activities.

Market Development Facility | 113

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The household has savings at the bank (Ira Luca) amounting to $300. They save for the grandchildren’s school fees. Both husband and wife put together money for savings.

Eastern Interview #7 Code

District

Viqueque

Suco

Luca

Family size

7 [7 in household, supported in full or in part]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

1.5 ha

Sources of income

Cutting Wood: $2,000 Gross revenue Vegetables Sales $600 Gross revenue Palm sago = $240 gross revenue Costs: Maize weeding labour $20

Total Annual Net Income

$2,820

Income per capita per day

$1.1

Crop Yields

Maize: 50 bundles Rice: Start this year no yield yet

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Maize: No Rice: Unknown

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

5 bags of 25 kilos every month

Main Markets Sold

Bikarin

Household Expenses

Spending $120 / month without funeral

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1,440

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.56

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The household comprise of many young members, due to which it becomes difficult for the wife to contribute to farming and engage in income earning opportunities. However, the family is involved in timber cutting which brings them a fair amount of income as they are not yet self-sufficient in terms of crop cultivation but they would like to engage in more income earning activities. One noticeable feature is the family’s attitude towards savings. Each of the mature member of the household has an account with the bank where they have some savings. The family lives near the market which gives them frequent access to market days and they would like to engage in further activities to raise total household income. Household Details  

The head of the household is 30 years old and never went to school. His wife is 29 and did not finish junior high school (only at first year / grade). This family has five children and all live in the house currently.

114 | Market Development Facility

      

Daughter is 15 years old; she is currently in the first grade of senior high school; Son is14 years old; he studies in the second grade of junior high school; Son is10 years old; he is currently in the first grade of junior high school; Son is7 years old; who is currently in the second grade of primary school and the youngest son, who is three year old, has not yet attended school. The house is made of concrete with a zinc roof and cemented floors. They do not have a television or radio. They have two cupboards. They have 1.5 ha of land for crops – which is used for rice (1) and maize (0.5). They started to plant the rice crop for the first time this year. No one in the household has or has ever had a wage paying (or non-wage non-farming) job. The family is involved in farming (rice and maize) and cutting woods for income. They have never explored any other work beyond farming and cutting wood.

Aspirations for Children The parents want their children to attend school for free but if need be they will continue to pay, including paying $5 fees monthly for daughter attending English and Portuguese courses. They want their children to continue with their education, as far as possible. Their children are capable at schools and they have also been asked by the teacher to get a laptop to learn better English. So far they have not been able to buy one. The parents want their children to become doctors or choose any other profession as long as they do not become farmers. The eldest daughter wants to join the police or armed forces. Sources of Income 

  

The family earns money from cutting and processing wood. The family owns a saw (machine), which they bought for $3,500 in Dili. The husband goes to cut trees for people who either pay for the service or trade for the wood that is cut. They normally make deals of 2:1 or 1:1. The 2:1 deal is made where he gets two woods and the owner gets one wood (in this condition he is responsible for the fuel). The 1:1 deal is made where both share one (in this condition the owner is responsible for the fuel). 56 pieces of 4 m long of normal wood is sold at $200; 82 pieces of 2 m long of teak wood is sold at $400; 36 pieces of 6x12 is sold at $300. Last year he went to Natarbora and sold it for $2,000. The money was used to build the house. They sell vegetables (mustard, cassava, eggplant). If lucky they can get as much as $50 a month. The household also sells sago palm and get $20 a month. They do not receive any donations, charity or scholarships, charity form churches, NGOs or international organisations. They do not receive remittance and have no access to loans.

Farming Activities and Income  



They have 1.5 ha of total land which is low land. They plant rice on 1 ha just this year because the irrigation is fixed. They plant rice twice a year. The first plantation starts in April and is harvested in July. This plantation is rain-fed. Second plantation is by using irrigated clean water (dry season) in August and harvested in November. They plan to hire 20 labours at $2 per day for half a day. Two years ago they were working on the wife’s family land and secured a yield of around 400 cans and stored it in two bags of cement. The yield was not enough because they had to use it for the funeral of her brother-in law.

Market Development Facility | 115

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They plant maize in half a hectare of land i.e. just behind the house. The maize field is rainfed. The husband, the wife and their children help in the farm i.e. in clearing the land, cultivating and weeding. They plant maize twice a year; they plant in the month of November and harvest in March and plant again in April and harvest in August. They use their own seeds. They do not use fertilizers and chemicals. The yield for maize is 50 bundles. They eat all and do not sell. They finish eating the maize within four months. They store in bundles in the kitchen. On the maize farm, the husband, wife and other family members work, and they sometimes use labour for weeding. They pay $2 per person for one day. There is no problem in finding labour as they are mostly students. The husband is planning to buy herbicides to clean the front yard of the house to start planting yellow maize next year. The family has planted 100 teak trees in the last two years and are expecting them to mature in the next eight years. They have also planted 50 trees of coconut in the last two years and hope to draw coconuts in the next 2–3 years too. They receive little or no technical support or information on cultivation techniques.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 



The yield from their land is not enough for eating in a year and sometimes they have to buy from the local market. They buy five bags of rice every month at $17 each. The maize from their own land is consumed within four months. They spend $500 per month (highest) including expenses on funerals and other social obligations. For their own consumption, they spend $120 per month on school needs (uniform, fees and for children’s needs) and other basic needs such as coffee, sugar etc.

Opportunities According to the wife, they are not making income because they have little babies and she is not able to work whilst they do not have enough money to pay labour. When asked about ideas to generate additional money, she said that once the children grow up, they will plant and sell more. Market Access 



The family lives nearby the main road, which enables her to go to the market of the neighbouring villages. However, it takes a 45-minute to one hour’s drive to reach Viqueque on an anguna and is approximately a 6–7 hours’ drive to Dili. The condition of the road is rough in some parts and just soil in many parts. The wife has a mobile phone to communicate and has enough credit on it. The family lives about 8 km away from the market of the neighbouring village on the main road. The neighbouring village market gathers weekly on Wednesday and Sunday. She goes by pulling a wagon full of vegetables to sell in the market. Once she sells all her vegetables, on her way back she buys coffee, sugar and other things. They need to walk for one hour to reach the market. People from other villages also come to that market. They go to the market twice a week. The family does not own any farm equipment. The family has a sensor, saw and other spare tools. The family has a motorbike that was bought in 2010 for $1,500 with money from cutting woods. They do not own any household appliances. The household built his house from income they made last year ($2,000) and also from savings of previous years. They spent about $4,000 to build the house, including $1,200 for the builder and carpenter. The price of a bag of cement is $10.

116 | Market Development Facility



When the income of the household increases, it is their eldest daughter who gets priority for her needs.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member  

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   

According to her, her main responsibilities are cooking, feeding the children, taking care of husband and the house. The husband’s main responsibilities are searching for livelihoods and earning income. He works 10 hours a day. He goes to the field early in the morning, sometimes he does not have breakfast or return for lunch. He is very hard working. When asked if she could spend more time earning money for the family, she responded that once the children grow up, she will plant more vegetables and sell more in the markets. The husband decides on farming items and equipment; livestock purchase or sales while she decides on household items, food purchases, school fees and medicines but informs the husband. The husband decides on buying sensor and other spare parts, and together they decide on buying motorbike and spending for social obligations. The donations / contribution to the church are the decision of the wife. The wife does agricultural work on maize cultivation and harvesting. The family has savings in the bank in Ira-Luca. The husband has one account worth $500; the wife has her independent account worth $400; the oldest son has a saving account with a balance of $100, while another son has a balance of $50. By April they will know how much balance they have including interests. They use the money for future education of their children and do not withdraw for households needs. If they need money for urgent matters, they will borrow from neighbours and pay back 10% interest. The wife is not part of any other group, association or NGO program. The wife takes the decisions for herself and their daughters. The wife is not allowed to work when she’s expecting. If there are opportunities, she would like to earn more money to assure the future of their children.

Interview of the male household member: The husband was not available at the time of visit to the household.

Eastern Interview #8 Code

District

Baucau

Suco

Uma Anaico (Bucoli,)

Family size

7 5 in household 7 total supported in full or in part

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

1 ha

Sources of income

Rice: $1000 gross revenue ; $845 net income (estimated $75 in milling) Maize: $60 gross revenue; $60 net income Vegetables and Fruits: $3600 gross revenue; $1200 net income

Market Development Facility | 117

Code

26 Candlenuts: $200 gross revenue; $200 net income Chicken: $162 net income (General Costs: $408 transport)

Total Annual Net Income

$2,059

Income per capita per day

$0.94 Based on six people (as the working son in Dili is only supported in part for his housing)

Crop Yields

Rice: three big cement bags / 0.5 ha (two harvests per year so six big bags / 0.5 ha) Maize: one big cement bag / 0.5 ha

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice: Yes Maize: Yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

Main Markets Sold

Dili

Household Expenses

Schooling for son in Dili: $1260 annually Household expenses: $240 annually

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1,500

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.68

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions This family has a long-standing history of selling to traders in Dili, so they can earn a decent amount of money from their sale of rice and vegetables. They have also started a small business of buying fruits in the village and reselling in Dili. Considering they have no other sources of income than farming – their income is relatively good compared to others who rely on farming in the area. They focus on educating their children and therefore have come up with ways to earn the most money they can from their farm. They would expand farming and their business but they have no more land to expand to. Also, they want to take another loan for the business but the bank has not been responsive. Household Details  

   

The head of the household is 41 years old and only attended up to the 1st grade of primary school. His wife, also 41, stopped schooling at the 2nd grade of primary school. The household comprise of seven family members but only five live in the household currently. One eldest son (25) lives and works in Dili, the second son (20) lives in Dili and is at university. However, the working son does not send money back to the family but the family does send him money, as he also lives with his younger brother who is in university. There are three other children – a Daughter (18) in school; a Son (11) who is no longer in education because he was hit in the head by a goat. The youngest is 9 and is also in school. The house is made of bamboo with a zinc roof and earth floors. They do not own a television radio tape player / CD, and they do not have any cupboards to stock clothes. They have 1 ha of land for crops, which is used for rice (0.5 ha) and maize (0.5 ha). No one living in the house has or ever had a wage paying (or non-wage non-farming) job. The family works and relies on farming for money.

118 | Market Development Facility

Aspirations for Children The family wants their children to be successful in their studies so they can support their parents when they are older. They also want them to have a better quality of life. They want the children to do any other work other than farming. They believe they will be successful. Sources of Income  



The family does not receive any social transfers, donations, charity or scholarships, remittances or money from other family members. They have received microfinance support from BNCTL (Banco Nacional De Commercio De Timor Leste). They took $200 and it took about seven months to pay it back. Instalments to pay back only start after four months. Interest is paid up front, so, if they take $200, they only get $190 as 10 is deducted at the start for the interest payment. Then they paid back only the $190. They recently paid back the loan however, for the last six months BNCTL has not come back to the village to offer it again. They used the money to help their business of buying coconuts and bananas in the village and selling them to traders in Dili. They take about $150 worth of coconuts and bananas to Dili. They have been doing this business since 1981. The wife takes the items every two weeks to Dili and stays there overnight supplying to the market traders. The family also gets some income from rice which is detailed below.

Farming Activities and Income The family has approximately 1 ha of total land which is highland. That is all the land they have (they do not have extra land that is not being planted). 

Rice: ˗ ˗

 

They grow rice on 0.5 ha of land. They plant rice twice per year once in January (harvest in May), and then in June (harvest in November). They get three big cement bags full of rice off the 0.5 ha every harvest. So that is six big bags per year for two harvests. They consume four of those big bags or use it for social obligations. Two of the big bags they sell each year – each worth about $500. So they sell $1000 worth of rice in a year. Rice Sales: They sell those two big bags of rice – milled – in Dili in both cans and small bags – depending on what people want to buy. It is $1 for a milk can’s worth of rice (possibly one litre can). They also sell full bags to the traders for $25 per bag. Each time the wife goes to the market she takes six small bags (25 kg bags) to sell (selling those out either as cans or as a full bag). She always manages to sell all of it through traders, not retailing it. That earns them $150 every trip – again totalling to about $1000 for the year. Rice Cultivation: they use liquid fertilizers on the rice because it increases their yield. They buy it from traders who come to the village. They use two cans at $35 per can – so total of $70 worth of fertilizers. They replant seedlings once casted and do not own a tractor but use a rented hand tractor which is owned by a group of 12 farmers that they are a part of. The farmer pays only $10 for the fuel (10L) and at times they all contribute if it needs to be fixed.

This farmer group not only shares a tractor but also rotates and work on each other’s farm for free labour. They use half a can of seeds (IR-64 variety), but do not buy as they retain their own. ˗

They pay $17 to transport six bags to Dili each trip, taking the bus (that includes the passenger). Estimated cost is $34 per month i.e. $408 per year. No cost of milling was given – but from other interviews in the area it is normally around $0.50 per can.

Market Development Facility | 119

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Maize: They grow maize on 0.5 ha. They plant once per year in November and harvest in March. The whole harvest fits in one big cement bag. They use it to feed the pigs and chickens. They only sell a little bit – $60 worth last year. Vegetables: The family also grows vegetables on an unknown amount of land. They grow black mustard, mustard, cabbage and tomatoes. They do not know how much vegetables they get or how much they take to sell. But they do know the combined money they make from vegetables, the coconuts and bananas. As mentioned above, combined she sells $150 worth of produce every two weeks this does not account for the cost of bananas and coconuts they buy). She mentioned that the profit she is making from selling all of this, she just gives to the sons in Dili. She said she gives them $50 each trip, so roughly $100 is the monthly profit (which does not come back to the house but stays with sons in Dili). They find it easy to sell in Dili and difficult to sell in the village or nearby areas. There are 20 households which also sell to Dili from the same village. They do it individually taking their own crops to the capital. They have no problems finding buyers, and have no transportation issues. The wife goes to Dili and when she first started going she met the traders and just exchanged phone numbers and now they call each other when she is going to town with crops or when they want crops. She sets the prices and buyers do not negotiate. She usually just sells in one day and returns the next. Candlenut: each time they sell $15 worth of candlenut a company – and in a good year they are able to make $200 from selling candlenuts. Candlenuts do not require any costs because they are just picked from the tree with no inputs. The husband and the son (the one who stays at home and does not go to school) work on the farm and the wife helps out from time to time also. But her main role is focusing on the household (cooking, etc.) and selling the vegetables. Both husband and wife work on vegetable farm as well. They have two small pigs, four mature pigs and more than 20 chickens. Last year they sold 18 chickens to cover costs at $8-$10 each. They did not need to sell any pigs last year. They do get information on planting rice from MAF but does not get any other inputs.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 



 

Sometimes they have to buy food if yields are low and the harvest is not good – they also do not sell any produce during that time either, so they do not get any income from their crops. Rather they are forced to buy crops. Last year yields were good and the year before was even better. If they do not have enough money to pay school fees or cover for costs they can sell leftover maize which they keep for their animals. They will also sell pigs and chickens when needed. Expenses: they pay state university fee for the son’s education, which is $30 per semester or $60 per year. They also give $100 per month to support him ($50 for rent; $50 for other related school costs), so $1200 per month in support. Their own monthly day-to-day expenses for household supplies is $20 per month or $240 per year. The family does not budget or plan their spending or income. They are often surprised when they see that money has run out. They both decide on how to spend the money but the wife actually keeps hold of the money.

Opportunities The family wants to expand their rice field because they are getting the maximum yield from 0.5 ha but they do not have any more land so no way to expand. They will continue to borrow money if they 120 | Market Development Facility

can for their ‘business’ of buying and selling fruits but the bank has not come around in the last six months. Market Access   

The family has a mobile phone with credit. As noted previously the wife is in touch with traders in Dili on a regular basis, and is easily able to sell her products to them. The house is on the main road between Baucau and Viqueque. Given the distance from their location to the main town of Baucau and Dili, the wife goes to Dili twice a month by bus. The family does not own any farm equipment (farmer group owns tractor); does not own a motorbike, car, or bicycle. Also does not own any household appliances.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member 

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

 

The wife’s main responsibilities are cooking, taking food to the field for her husband and son, feeding pigs and animals and taking care of the children. She also takes the crops to Dili herself. The husband’s main responsibilities are taking care of the kids after school, taking care of the animals / livestock and farming. When asked if she could spend more time earning money for the family, she responded that she already plants and sells vegetables in Dili and that brings in good income. She does have more time to plant more, and will do so after the maize harvest. She also has more time to harvest maize and rice. Joint decisions are taken on farming items and equipment and also on livestock purchase or sales because the money earned goes for education, school fees and on social obligations. She said she decides on household items, food purchases and each person decides on whether to buy medicines when they need it. The family does not give church donations. The wife does agricultural work on her own farm for maize, rice and vegetables; and sells crops in Dili to traders. She indicated there is no farm work that is restricted for women. She does not do any other income earning activity or any other work outside the household. She does sell vegetables and considers that to be work outside the house. She thinks this is a good opportunity for women and wants her daughters to do it also. The wife has little savings at home for education. She has short term savings, as she keeps money when they sell things for when they need to spend it. It is household savings so the husband is aware of how much money is available. They decide together how and when to spend. The wife is not part of any other group, association or NGO program, nor is she engaged in any volunteer or church work. The wife mentioned that there are many women in the village that are successfully running businesses (similar to her). Women often take crops to Dili and sub-district markets to sell.

Interview of the male household member 



The husband’s activities include cooking when wife is in Dili and daughter is in school. He also cleans the yard, and takes care of the children when his wife is away. He helps collect firewood and water, in addition to the support he provides his wife on vegetable farming. According to him, the main role of women is cooking, taking care of the house and helping the household earn an income.

Market Development Facility | 121

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  

According to him, he is the one who decides what she does with her time (but this response is possibly applicable for the daughter’s tasks rather than the wife). The wife decides when to go to the market herself. The husband is responsible for taking every spending decision except for buying food (which the wife decides), and medicines (which they each decide on their own when it’s needed). However, he did say that he consults with his wife. When the tractor needs maintenance, he discusses it with his wife and they decide together. He decides on social obligations, and the decision on church donation is taken together (but the wife mentioned they do not donate so this is probably not relevant). When there is an increase in income they prioritise the children’s needs and expenditures. He says, his wife works in the field and her tasks include harvesting, planting, and carrying the crops to the house. The women in the house also grow vegetables (planting, weeding, harvesting and selling). Wife sells vegetables to Dili, and also helps raise chickens and pigs. There are no tasks that women are forbidden to do on farming. Women in the village do volunteer work sometimes i.e. when the village chief asks for volunteers for cleaning the village. If there are more buyers coming to their house to buy crops – the women in particular would spend more time planting, so they are closer to the house instead of travelling far away.

Eastern Interview #9 Code

District

Baucau

Suco

Bucoli

Family size

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

1 ha

Sources of income

Rice: $500 revenue; $425 net income (milling cost estimated $75) Vegetables: $2,400 revenue; $2,144 net income Candlenuts: $15 Pigs: $200 Chickens: $200 (Transport costs total $400) (Tractor $60)

Total Annual Net Income

$2,524

Income per capita per day

$0.62

Crop Yields

Rice: two big cement bags / 0.5 ha (4 big bags / ha) Maize: two bags / 0.5 ha (4 bags / ha)

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice: No Maize: Yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

Rice: five bags per year ($85)

Main Markets Sold

Baucau and sub-district

Household Expenses

$50 per month (except $400 at start of school year)

Total Annual Household Expenses

$950

122 | Market Development Facility

Code

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.23

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions 



This household had the lowest PPI score from our sample in the Eastern region. It is a large (and young) family with no other sources of income aside from agriculture and a relatively small size of land for the district (maybe 1 ha). No one comes to buy here so they have to take their produce to the market, which means they do not take much and costs are high. The family has seen potential in vegetable. They plant only one crop of rice per year in order to grow and sell vegetables as that earns them a good amount of money. They will try to expand vegetable growing this year.

Household Details 

    

The family consists of husband age 39 and his wife age 40. He attended up to 5th grade primary and she finished junior high school. They have nine children (they had 13 children of which four have passed away). Eight of the children are under 18 and are currently attending school. The eldest son is 19, he quit school after 2nd grade of secondary school. He used to live with the grandfather but he passed away so he is back with the family now. The other children are: son (17); son (15); son (12); daughter (10); daughter (8); daughter (7); daughter (3), son (2). They live in a bamboo house with a zinc roof and earth floors. They do not own any TV, radio, tape player / CD; nor do they have any clothes cupboards. They have an estimated 1 ha of land (0.5 ha for maize and they plant two cans of rice seeds so that would likely be half a hectare). No one in the house has had a wage or non-farming job. The household relies on farming for employment.

Aspirations for children 



The family wants their children to at least finish secondary school. If they can continue they will go ahead. It will be good if they can go to university. They believe that they will finish secondary school. It depends on the parent’s capacity to fund them to university, so financial constraints might stop them. They hope after they finish school they will get a job but if not they will like the children to return to farming. The parents do not want their children to be uneducated.

Sources of Income 



The family does not receive social transfers. The husband was involved in clandestine operations under the government but does not receive support from the government any longer. They do not get income from any other sources except from farming and selling of animals.

Farming Activities and Income 

They plant rice, vegetables (on the rice land when rice is harvested) and also grows maize, candlenut and coconut (between maize).

Market Development Facility | 123

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  



    



  

 

Rice: Rice is planted on 0.5 ha of land. Rice is planted once per year now because they are mostly interested to grow vegetables after the first rice harvest. They used to plant two seasons of rice but as that is only for self- consumption, they only harvest one crop so they can sell vegetables and make money rest of the year. They plant in February and harvest in May. They get two big cement bags of harvest. They consume all but if they need money they will sell one bag and eat one. They sell it in cans (maybe 400-500 grams but needs to be confirmed) for $0.50. They do not know how many cans they sell but in total they can get $500 for the big cement bag worth of rice. They sell in markets nearby – either Baucau or Venilale (sub-district capital). They mill it for $0.75 per can (big can – 20 l). Maize is planted on 0.5 ha of land but planted under trees so it would not make up 0.5 ha of just maize. They get two bags of maize but do not sell any. Vegetables: They plant vegetables on the same plot as rice (0.5 ha) – from June / July and harvest from October to November (get about eight weeks of harvest). They focus on selling vegetables and go to the market twice per week during those eight weeks. They sell in District and sub-district capitals. They go by truck paying $50 each trip to get there including persons and vegetables (total of $400 transport to sell). Each family in the area rents their own truck, they do not share transport. They stay overnight at the market when they go and stay there until they sell out. They usually always sell out. They make maybe $250 – $400 per week for each week they go. So they can easily make $2000 in profit (net) in just eight weeks. Mostly they sell cabbage. They sell tomatoes in buckets (usually $10 / bucket) and mustard to traders in sacks (usually $10 / sack). Candlenuts are sold by the children as pocket money / school money. The kids sell candlenuts worth $10–20 per year. Coconut is grown and fed to the pigs. They also use compost and pig manure on their crops. They use their own seeds for rice (ICM) and buy vegetable seeds in the stores in Baucau. Seed usage: Tomato seeds- two bags at $11 each ($22 total). Cabbage seeds is four bags at $11 each ($44 total). For black mustard, retained seeds were used, while for white mustard two bags costing $5 each ($10 total) were bought. So a total of $76 was spent on purchase of vegetable seeds. Pay for a hand tractor – $50 plus fuel of $10 (10L), so $60 in total for rice. They probably use it for vegetables at the same rate – although not confirmed. They do not use paid labour but just work on the farm themselves with their kids. They are not aware of MAF’s work in the area as no extension officers have visited them. Government promised to buy back crops but never came back; an NGO (ICM) bought rice from the area once. Otherwise it is difficult because no one comes down here to buy. The family also sells livestock. They have four pigs and 20 chickens. Previously they used to sell piglets for $50 each. Last year most of their pigs died but they managed to sell four piglets at $50 each (total of $200). They only seem to sell pigs when needed. Each year they sell chickens. Last year $200 worth of chickens were sold in the markets (each time they go to the market they take 5–10 chickens to sell). They use fertilizers for vegetables – buying one bag (50kg) at $40 for the year. They buy it in Baucau store. They use chemicals for vegetables; 20 small packs worth $7 each, so a total of $140 (kurakron chemical for cabbage). They use matador chemical for rice – also 20 packs worth $7 each, so that is $140 per year.

124 | Market Development Facility

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 



  

They eat most of the staple crops they grow (rice and maize) but sometimes it is not enough. If they do need to buy more it costs $17 per bag and they get up to five bags per year, so $85 on purchased rice. It is usually in April that they need to buy additional bags because if it is rains too much they cannot dry the paddy for milling. So they prefer to buy the clean rice if they cannot dry and mill it right away. Expenditures for household: last month they spent $400 because it was the start of school year and needed to buy new uniforms and shoes for children. They usually spend $50 per month when there are no major expenses. They can manage this by selling vegetables in Nov-Dec as they save that and spend in later months. They also buy other foods like coffee and sugar. They do not own any agricultural tools except for hand tools, no motorbike, car or bicycle, and no household appliances. Monthly expenses are not planned and neither do they keep track of how much is spent. But they can remember how much total is spent each month (just not a breakdown of what). They do not have savings in the bank because it is difficult to withdraw. So they just keep money at home so that they can access as needed. They invest in vegetable farming and will do that this year as well, as it gives them a good income.

Opportunities  

Challenges they face in farming is insects on rice but they use chemicals / pesticides as and when required. They buy it in the district as needed. To increase their income they are going to use land of another farmer, who only plants one season of rice. After rice they will plant vegetables on the farmer’s land, and will share the yields with the land owner. This is because they do not own additional land.

Market Access  

They travel by truck to the market to sell their produce. They go to Baucau and subdistrict markets twice a week. The parents do not have a mobile phone. The wife is suspicious that if he has a mobile phone he may end up having an affair with someone else, so parents do not keep one to avoid problems in the household. But their children own a mobile phone and as needed they can borrow that.

Section on Gender The interview on gender related issues had to be shortened as it took quite a long time for the entire interview and the children were back from school for lunch. Three questions were asked about appropriate opportunities for women; who decides on spending, what work she does and what work the husband focuses on. The responses were as follows:    

The wife decides on spending because she keeps the money, however, she informs him about where the money was spent afterwards. The wife primarily works at home as a housewife but she also helps with vegetable farming and goes to sell in the market. The husband focuses on farming as his main role. Appropriate opportunities in this village for women are borrowing money from a bank and doing a small business like selling vegetables.

Market Development Facility | 125

Eastern Interview #10 Code

District

Baucau

Suco

Gari Uai

Family size

9 8 in household 9 total supported in full or in part

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

1.5 ha

Sources of income

Social Transfer: $720 Candlenuts: $300 Salary as driver:$1,800 Selling horse: $200 Selling Chicken: $144 Selling Cassava leaves: $24 Costs:$156 per year Maize seeds: $50 Transport for selling: $96 Transport to get social transfer: $8

Total Annual Net Income

$2,878

Income per capita per day

$0.87

Crop Yields

Maize: 20 bundles

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Maize: No * Most of the time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; at least in last two years.

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing

two bags per two weeks

Main Markets Sold

Baucau

Household Expenses

Rice: $408 Household expenditure: $480 per year Daughterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expenses: $340 per year Support to son-in-law relatives: $240 per year

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1,468

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.45

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The household is primarily involved in farming and also earns income from social transfers, non-farm job (driving microlet) and selling agri-produce. The family is not self-sufficient in crops and therefore needs other sources of income to supplement total household income. They often rely on candlenuts sales and also sell their horses when in need of quick finance. The female member of the household is also engaged in farming and trading in the market and decisions on household expenditures are taken together. As the head of the household is aging, it is getting difficult for him to continue candlenut sales as it requires physical labour. Therefore information on better cultivation practices, storage facilities or techniques and inputs would be helpful for the family to engage in productive agricultural practices to be able to earn more income.

126 | Market Development Facility

Household Details  

  

The head of the household is over 60 years old and never attended school. His wife is also over 60 and never attended school. This household has three daughters and one son. The eldest daughter is married and is no longer living with them. The second daughter is also married but lives in family house with her husband and two sons. The third daughter is now studying at the University in Dili. She stays with other family members in Dili. The youngest son did not continue his studies and now lives in the house. There are nine family members but only eight live in the household currently. The grandchildren are of the ages six and 4. They have not attended school yet. The son-in-law lives in the house. He is a microlet / minibus driver and has been driving for the past 3-4 months. He is paid $150 a month. He used to be a bus driver and was paid $400 per month. He started as the driver’s assistant in 2000. Just four months ago he stopped driving the bus because he took a break to take care of his father who is sick. The other family members are engaged in farming (maize and candlenut) for income. The house is made of bamboo with a zinc roof and earth floors. They do not have television or a tape recorder. They have one cupboard. They have 1.5 ha of land for crops which is used for maize only.

Aspirations for Children All the children failed in schools except the third daughter who is currently at the National University in Dili. The family wants her to go as far as she can. They believe that she is smart and has potential. The parents do not know what the daughter is studying but want her to do pursue whichever career she pleases. They only hope that she gets a job after completing her education but if not they would like her to return to the village. Sources of Income 

    

Both husband and wife receive social transfer for elderly people; $30 / monthly but they take it every six months i.e. amounting to $180 at a time. They use the elderly fund to buy food and pay for fees for the daughter at university. The money is all kept by the wife. The family sells candlenut but the sale depends on the harvest. They get at least one bag of 25 kg a month which is sold at $1 / kg. The family also has eight horses (seven females and one male) and they sell one per year at $200. The family also sells 2–3 chickens per month at $6 or $7 each. The wife sells cassava leaves worth 50 cents every week. They do not receive any donations, scholarships, charity form church, NGOs or an international organisations. They do not receive remittances or money from other family members. They just received some money following their daughter’s wedding as ‘bride price’ but this was a one-time payment and is an exception (The father seemed reluctant to mention the amount in front of his son-in-law). They do not take any loans.

Farming Activities and Income 

They have 1.5 ha of total land, all of which is low land. They only grow maize on the land which is rain-fed. They grow two varieties of maize, one of which is planted in November and harvested in January, while the other is planted in November and harvested in March.

Market Development Facility | 127

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The parents grow maize. The husband manages the field and the wife plants the seeds. When it is a good season the yield is 20 bundles of 40 cobs each plus one bag of 25 kg of kernel. They do not use fertilizers or chemicals. They use retained seeds or sometimes buy seeds. Last year they bought seeds worth $50. It is expensive because $1 is just for four cobs. They intercrop long beans and pumpkins but they do not sell. They store maize in traditional shelves in the kitchen. Rats eat some after harvest and about five bundles are lost to spoilage. They also plant candlenuts. They have 120 trees. The candlenuts are normally harvested twice a year, but this family does not collect candlenut regularly. They only collect when they nearly run out of rice. They buy two bags of rice per month using the proceeds from candlenut sale. They also grow cassava and sell cassava leaves in the market. They do not sell the root because it does not earn much money. They only know how to grow maize, long bean, cassava and peanuts. They are not growing peanuts because the husband (the main farmer in the family) is getting older. They do not use fertilizers or chemicals. They use their own seeds for maize and sometimes they buy it i.e. if they have eaten all retained seeds. The seeds are in cobs. They have to pay $1 for four cobs. They do not use labour to work on their land. They farm themselves. Attacks from rats is a major problem in farming. Late rain, storm and underground insects (also known as ‘banagara’ in local language) are the main constraints for cultivation. They do not get information on farming from MAF and also do not receive fertilizers and seeds.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 

  

The yield from their land is not enough for eating in a year. Therefore they buy rice from the market. They buy two bags of rice of 25 kilos each at $17 a bag every month. If they do not have enough money to buy rice, they rush to collect and sell candlenuts to Acelda or they sometimes sell their horses to get money. If they are not lazy they can collect more than two bags of 25kg / month. The family has total expenditure of $40 per month mostly for rice and cooking oil. Every three months they send around $85–100 to their daughter in Dili for her needs. The family does not budget or plan their spending or income. They just spend money as they earn. The son-in-law supports his younger brothers by giving $20 every month.

Opportunities The family recognises that they need money to buy rice but they do not collect candlenut regularly. When asked about ideas to get more money, the husband said that only him and his wife are collecting and selling candlenut. While there are a lot candlenuts, no one else wants to collect and sell. They are getting older and it is getting difficult for them to carry high volumes. He said that only the daughter who is at the university is interested in doing business. Market Access 

The family lives near the village road that goes to other villages. Their house is located about 5–6 km from the main road and takes nearly an hour drive on a microlet to reach Baucau and approximately three hours to Dili.

128 | Market Development Facility

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The family does not have a mobile phone to communicate. The family lives near the neighbouring village market which is on the main road. The neighbouring village market has a weekly market that gathers every Tuesday and Friday. The family does not go to that market but they go to the district market in Baucau. Only the wife goes to the market at least once a week. They need to take a one hour drive on a microlet / minibus. The microlet / minibus costs $1 per passenger. The head of the family does not go to the market. The family does not own any farm tool except a spade. They do not own a motorbike, car, or bicycle, nor do they own any household appliances.

Section on Gender The female household member was not available during the interview, hence only the responses of the male household member were taken:   

 

The couple receives social transfers. The husband gives the money to the spouse to keep. When they need to spend it, they decide together on how to spend it. The husband’s main task involves farming, collecting water and firewood. The wife’s task is around the house and entails cooking, planting, weeding, harvesting, carrying the harvest to the house and taking care of the children. The wife also helps the husband planting and harvesting maize. Suitable opportunities for women to earn money are just selling items such as cooked food and also collecting and selling candlenut. Daughter was doing small business selling cigarettes from house to house while schooling in the village. She paid her own school fees by this activity. However the daughter is now attending university in Dili.

Narratives from the Western Region Western Interview #1 Code

District

Ermera

Suco

Ponilala

Family size

8 [8 in household, total supported in full or in part]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

0.14 ha

Sources of income

Coffee: $500-$600 revenue; the average net revenue is $550 / year Part time construction job: $300 / year Social transfer: $360 / year Cost: Transportation cost of $2 / bag for carrying Coffee to the district (usually he has 10-1two bags of 50kg each harvest).

Total Annual Net Income

$1186

Income per capita per day

$0.41 *Based on eight people living in the house

Market Development Facility | 129

Code

Crop Yields

Coffee – 611 kg100

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Coffee, Cassava, Taro, Potatoes: Yes *Most of the time-at least in the last two years.

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold Household Expenses

Schooling for five children: $200 / year Household expenses: $420 / year

Total Annual Household Expenses

$620

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.21

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions Very poor household; were struggling to meet their daily needs. Coffee was their only major source of income. The interviewee used to work as a labour for construction but the construction job is not available all the time. He also plants cassava and other crops on other farms to feed the family need, however during the hungry season they do eat less and first try to feed the kids. The household does not have enough land, therefore is not able to plant more coffee. However they could possibly plant more vegetable crops on the other farm that they are planting on and sell to increase their household income. Household Details         

The head of the household is 50 years old and never went to school. His wife, 60 years old, also never went to school. The household comprises of eight family members and all live in the household currently. One elderly person, who is 70 years old also lives in the house. They have five children; three sons (17, 11 and 8 years of age respectively) and two daughters (15 and 13 years of age respectively). All of them attend school. The house is made of brick with a zinc roof and concrete floor. They do have a television and own one cupboard for clothes. They have 0.149 ha land for crop – which is entirely used for coffee. Chief of the family used to do a part time construction job but it’s not available all the time. The family relies on farming and social transfer received by the elderly member of the household (mother).

Aspirations for Children They want them all to go to university. They want the children to get good jobs, thus they have to study hard. Sources of Income 

100

The husband used to work as a part time construction labour last year, and got paid $100 for three months. This was a part time job, and it used to take about three months to build a house.

Based on average revenue of $550 and average selling price of $0.90/kg

130 | Market Development Facility



The mother receives social transfers of $180 / six month ($360 annually). However they do not receive any donations, charity or scholarships, nor do they receive remittances or money from other family members.

Farming Activities and Income 



The household has approximately 0.149 ha of total land, all of which is lowland. That is all the land he has for coffee, but he does work on other farmer’s land to grow other crops for household consumption. Coffee: ˗ ˗

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They grow coffee on 0.149 ha of land which is planted once a year in January and harvested in July. Proceeds from coffee harvest: They get 500–600kg of coffee off the 0.149 ha every harvest. They consume 10–20kg of coffee per harvest and the rest is for sale. The price of coffee that they get is about $0.80-$1.00 / kg. Therefore, he sells $500-$600 worth of coffee per year. Coffee Sales: He travels to the district market via a Microlet (mini bus) which costs him $2 / bag (usually he has 10-1two bags of 50kg each harvest) to sell coffee at once to anyone who offers a good price. The price is usually set by the buyer / trader. Coffee Cultivation: He does not use fertilizers and chemicals on the coffee because they are not available in the district market.

He also grows crops such as cassava, taro and potatoes on other farm but mainly for household consumption. He plants once a year in December and harvests cassava and taro in September. Potato is harvested in May. The entire harvest fits in four bags of 25kg for each crop. The husband works on the farm and the wife also helps with harvest and cleaning / weeding; her main role is focusing on the household (cooking, cleaning etc.). In addition, she also works on the kitchen garden. They both rear pigs and chickens and only sell it if they need money. They do not get information on planting coffee and vegetables or any other support from MAF or other NGOs.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 



In total $30–40 is spent each month for day-to-day expenses on household supplies. In addition, other expenses include school fees and related school cost for the five children which add up to $200 per year. The family does not budget or plan their spending or income – as they will only spend if they have money.

Opportunities 



More income opportunities: They want to expand their coffee field because they have maximised their yield from the 0.149 ha of their existing coffee growing land but do not have additional land, hence there is no way to expand. They will increase their vegetable production from the kitchen garden to increase their sales in the community, and also plan to rear more pigs and chickens to sell in the district market.

Market Access 

The house of this particular household is on the main road and it take less than one hour to drive up to Ermera market by car.

Market Development Facility | 131

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Assets: the family does not own any farm equipment nor do they own a motorbike, car, or bicycle. Also they do not own any household appliances.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member The wife was in Dili, visiting her family when the interview was conducted, therefore only responses of the husband were taken. 

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The husband’s main role includes taking care of the kids if they fall sick and helping the wife take care of the elders. He also sometimes helps the kids collect firewood and helps in the kitchen garden. According to him, the main role of women is cooking, taking care of the kids and cleaning the house. The husband responded that he is the one who decides what the wife does with her time. On spending decisions, the husband said that he is the one who decides on farming equipment only because he knows better than the wife. On others spending matters including livestock purchase, household furniture, land purchase, school fees, medicine, social obligation and church donation, the husband discusses with the wife. However the wife decides on food purchase as she is the one who cooks. When there is an increase in income, the whole family benefit; the increase is used for paying school fee for children and for ensuring there is enough food for everyone. The husband mentioned that his wife also works in the field and her major task in the field is to harvest, clean / weed and help in selling. The woman in the house also grows vegetables – her tasks include planting, weeding, harvesting, and selling. She also helps raise chicken and pigs. There are no tasks that women are forbidden to do in farming. Women in the village also do volunteer work in the church –helping with cleaning and sometimes cooking if there is any religion event in the suco. Savings: The household does not have savings.

Western Interview #2 Code

District

Ermera

Suco

Ponilala

Family size

9 [6 in household, supported in full or in part and 3 live in Dili and does not receive any support]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

40 ha

Sources of income

Coffee: net income $7,500 / year House rent: 5,000 / year Costs: $800 labour fee / year

Total Annual Net Income

$11,700

Income per capita per day

$5.34 *based on six people living in the house

132 | Market Development Facility

Code

Crop Yields

Coffee – 7,317 kg101

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Coffee: Yes * Self-sufficient most of the time

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold Household Expenses

Schooling for children: $400 / year Household expenses: $660 / year

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1,060

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.48

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The family stays in a relatively big house about 1km from the main road. Coffee is the major crop and the interviewee makes about $7,500 from selling coffee annually. He sells to a fixed buyer and he is happy with it. He is a well-known farmer who is able to meet his family needs. He inherited the coffee plantation from his parents and therefore he considers replanting for long term sustainability. He thinks he loses a lot in paying labours for harvesting his coffee as he generally pays them by giving bags of coffee. These usually total to about half the harvest. There is potential for him to become a middleman for other small coffee farmers in his area by link them with the buyer. This particular farmer is noted to be the biggest farmer and since he has large volume of coffee to sell, the buyer comes and picks the coffee from his farm gate. It is interesting to see that he gets a higher price compared to other farmers ($0.80 – $1.25). This opens up opportunity for him to buy coffee from other small farmers (these farmers will save on transportation cost), put up a little bit of margin and sell to this same buyer. Household Details  

   

101

The head of the household is 56 years old and only attended school till the 2nd grade of junior high school. His wife, 46 years old, stopped schooling at 5th grade of primary school. The household comprise of nine family members but only five live in the house currently. One eldest son (25) lives and works in Dili as a public servant, the eldest daughter (23) is married and lives in Dili with her family and the second daughter (20) lives in Dili with her relative. However, the working son and daughters do not send money back to the family. There are four other children – all male (15, 12, 10 and 8 years of age respectively) who attend school. The house is made of brick with a zinc roof and concrete floors. The family owns a television, radio, tape player / CD and four cupboards for clothes. The family has 40 ha of land which is used for coffee production only. No one living in the house has or has ever had a wage paying (or non-wage non farming) job. The family works and relies on farming for income.

Based on total revenue of $7,500 and average selling price of $1.03

Market Development Facility | 133

Aspirations for Children The family wants the children to attend school and study hard in order to have a good job and be successful in their future. Sources of Income 



The family does not receive any social transfers. They do not receive any donations, charity or scholarships, nor do they receive remittances or money from other family members (the son working in Dili does not send money). They have a family house in Dili that is rented to a Malae (foreigner) for $2,500 / month. However, the rent money is divided amongst six brothers. Thus he gets only $416 / month ($5,000 annually) Coffee is another source of income for the family.

Farming Activities and Income The household has approximately 40 ha of total land which are spread over both highland and lowland. 

Coffee: ˗ ˗ ˗ ˗

 



They grow coffee on 40 ha of land. They plant new coffee plants in January to replace the old one, harvest in July and August and sell in September and October. Coffee Harvest: from each harvest on the 40 ha of land he gets $7,500 worth of coffee. They consume 4–5 bags (60kg / bag per harvest) and give 2–5 bags of his share to their family who live in Dili. Coffee Sales: He sells coffee a few times during the harvest season to a Japanese company, who come and buy from the farm gate. The price at which he sells the coffee is $0.80–1.25 / kg which has been set by the company. Coffee Cultivation: He does not use fertilizers or chemicals on the coffee plants as he believes that coffee does not need fertilisers or chemicals.

The farmer interviewed pays the labour to do all the farm work and he just supervises them. The farmer’s children and wife do not work in the farm; the children are mainly expected to study and the wife focuses on household chores (cooking, etc.).Sometimes she also oversees their kitchen garden. The farmer never gets information from MAF or other sources on coffee planting or other inputs.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses   

The farmer spends approximately $50-$60 / month approximately on day-to-day expenses for rice, cooking oil, etc. Other expenses include payment for school materials such as books, pens, uniform etc. although school attendance is free. The family does not budget or plan their spending or income. The husband and wife both decide on how to spend the money but the husband actually keeps hold of the money.

Opportunities He has enough for selling coffee and has the potential for becoming a middleman between smaller coffee growers and the buyer.

134 | Market Development Facility

Market Access   

The house is located about 1 km from the main road and it takes one hour to go to the district market. Market Access: The family has a mobile phone with credit. Assets: the family owns a big saw, a motorbike and also a generator.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member   

   

Her main responsibilities include cooking and taking care of children. The husband’s main responsibilities are taking care of the children’s education and to make sure that food is available every day. Spending decisions – according to her, decisions on food and household furniture purchases, school fee, health, social obligation and church donations are taken together. However, decisions on farm equipment, livestock purchase, land purchase and car / motorbike purchase are all decided by the husband. The wife is responsible for overseeing the family kitchen garden and sometimes feeding the chickens, dog and goat if she has free time. Saving: All the money earned from the sale of coffee is kept by the husband at the bank. The husband decides on what to spend. The wife was involved with a women’s activist group but she is not actively engaged anymore. She does not know of any other women in the village who are successful in running businesses, and are earning a better income.

Interview of the male household member Questions asked to the female member of the household was also asked to the male member of the household and the responses received were as follows:    

   

The husband’s activities are just to supervise the labour who work at the coffee farm. According to him, the main role of women is cooking, taking care of kids and the household. The husband says, he is the one who decides what she does with her time. For spending decisions, the husband mentioned that he is the one who decides on farm equipment, livestock and land purchase, school fee and car / motorbike purchase. Whereas, the wife decides on household items and food purchases. However decisions on health and medicines, social obligation and church donations are taken jointly. When there is an increase in income, the entire family benefit through better food, clothes, school fees and savings. The husband mentioned that women are not allowed to do tasks such as cleaning, digging and harvesting as they are all men’s job. His wife sometimes help the church in cooking for religious events in their Suco. Savings: Proceeds from the sale of coffee are kept at the bank.

Market Development Facility | 135

Western Interview #3 Code

District

Ermera

Suco

Ponilala

Family size

13 [10 members are currently living in the house and three children are living and studying in Dili]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

2 ha

Sources of income

Coffee – Gross revenue of $1,000 per year Pumpkin Leaves – Gross Revenue of $50 Canteen – $600 ($50 / month x 12 months) Pie- $520 ($10 / week x 5two weeks) No cost is involved as no inputs are being used. Coffee is sold from farm gate whilst pumpkin leaves are sold from district market (no transport cost is involved as the walk to the market)

Total Annual Net Income

$2,170

Income per capita per day

$0.46 *based on total household size of 13 people

Crop Yields

Coffee – 900 kg102 Pumpkin leaves – 133 bundles103 Taro, Cassava and Potato – for own consumption only (usually eat about a bucket of each per week).

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Coffee – yes Pumpkin – Yes (eat the pumpkin and sell leaves) Taro – Yes Cassava – Yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold

Coffee – sold to an individual who comes and buys from farm gate Pumpkin Leaves – District market (every Friday)

Household Expenses

School fees: $1,400 / year Household expenses: $1,200 / year

Total Annual Household Expenses

$2,600

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.55

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions Very poor household living in poor housing conditions and struggling to meet their family needs. They have a total of 11 children and this increases their household expenditure and puts them under pressure to earn more to meet the family needs. Children’s school fees is $1,400 annually and food cost comes to $1,200 annually. The family income is through multiple activities which includes income from selling coffee ($1,000 annually), pumpkin leaves ($50 annually), small canteen profits 102 103

Calculations based on total revenue of $1,000 and selling price of $0.80 to $1.00 per kg (average selling price of $0.90/kg used) Based on total revenue of $50 and selling price of $0.50 to $0.25 per bundle (average selling price of ($0.38 per bundle used)

136 | Market Development Facility

($600 annually) and wife selling pie in the village ($520 annually). Yet the family is not able to meet all expenses and they often have to borrow money from other villagers or the person whom they sell their coffee to. There seems to be limited scope to increase farm production to meet family needs as the land they have is hilly and rocky therefore not suitable to plant vegetables. They regularly prune their coffee plants and for long run sustainability they should also consider replanting their coffee, as the trees currently in use were grown by their ancestors. The husband operates a small canteen whilst the wife sells pie in the village to supplement their income from the farm. There is a scope to increase income from these existing sources by keeping more varieties of products in the canteen and also by the wife making other goods to sell in the village. There are no other job opportunities for men and women in their village, however, the family has high hopes from their children to start working and supporting the family in future. Household Details  



 



The head of the household is 42 years old and studied up till Junior high school. His wife who is 38 years old and she did not go to school. The family has a total of 11 children, eight of which are currently staying with them and the rest three are staying in Dili; studying at the University. They all are currently being supported by the family. The current occupational status of the children are as follows – daughter 25 (graduated last year and currently looking for job), son 24 (Final year at University), daughter 20 (first year at University), daughter 19 (3rd grade secondary), daughter 17 (3rd grade JHS), son 15 (2nd grade JHS), son 13 (6th grade Primary), daughter 11 (5th grade primary), daughter 10 (4th grade Primary), daughter 8 (2nd grade Primary) and daughter six (1st grade primary). The house is made of bamboo with a zinc roof and earth floors. They do not own a television, radio tape player / CD, and they do not have any cupboards to stock clothes. They have 2 ha of land for crops, all of which is used for growing coffee, pumpkin, cassava, taro and potato. (All crops are intercropped on the same 2 ha land and cassava, taro and potato are for home consumption only) No one living in the house has or has ever had a wage paying (or non-wage non farming) job. The family works and relies on farming for employment.

Aspirations for Children The parents will do everything to see that the children get educated as they do not want them to end up in farm like them. They want all of them to get educated and get a good job (any good job as the children see fit) and for that the children have to work and study hard. Sources of Income 



The family does not receive any social transfers. They do not receive any donations, charity or scholarships, nor do they receive remittances or money from other family members or other households. The family also does not get any income from property rent or interests. On a number of occasions the family has borrowed money from other villagers or even from coffee buyers (on interest) to pay off their children’s school fees and later paid it either through revenue from coffee or the little profit they make from the canteen. Income sources from agriculture are detailed below.

Market Development Facility | 137

Farming Activities and Income The family has a total of 2 ha of land on which they do mixed cropping and this includes coffee grown together with pumpkin, cassava, taro and potato. 

Coffee: ˗

˗ ˗

 

The family practices organic / traditional farming and does not use any equipment (hilly land) nor any chemicals and fertilizers. They harvested coffee worth of $1,000 last year. This was sold to one regular buyer in the district market at a price ranging from $0.80 to $1.00 per kg. Using the average price of $0.90 / kg, the total yield can be calculated to be approximately 1,111 kg. He keeps one bag (equivalent of 60 kg) for his family consumption, while the rest are all sold to the buyer. The farmer has been selling to him for a long time now and has a good relationship with him. At times the buyer even gives loan to the family and later deducts it from the coffee sales. The farmer does not have any major problem with coffee farming. He usually gets the help of villagers during the harvesting period and pays them off by giving a bag of coffee (60 kg bag). Vegetable: ˗



Coffee was grown by their ancestors so that is one reason they still have it and continues to harvest it because of demand in the market. Pumpkin is grown for home consumption whilst they only sell the leaves. Cassava, taro and potato are grown basically for home consumption only, and were not sold during the last few years. Coffee is mainly planted in January (but they did not do any replanting) and harvesting is done between May to August. After harvest it is usually sold in August or September. The whole family works on the coffee farm and the husband is the only one involved in all the activities. The wife and children usually help in cleaning and carrying coffee beans during the harvesting period.

Pumpkin is usually planted in October during the start of the rainy season and harvesting is done in December / January and sold at the same time. Whilst the husband does the difficult task of land clearing and land preparation, the wife and children help with planting and weeding. They follow the traditional methods with no equipment or inputs usage. They rely on their own retained seeds. Pumpkin (fruit) is for home consumption only, whilst they sell the leaves only. They sold pumpkin leaves worth of $50 last year and this was sold at a price of $0.25-$0.50 per bundle. If we use an average price of $0.38 then the family sold about 133 bundles of pumpkin leaves last year. This was sold at the district market on market days (every Friday) by the wife. She usually walks down to the market. Taro, cassava and potatoes are planted in October / November and harvesting usually begins in May the following year. These crops are utilised for home consumption, so the crops are harvested weekly for the whole year, or as long as they have it. The husband does the clearing and land preparation whilst the wife and the children help with planting, watering and harvesting. They follow traditional methods, use their own seeds / planting material without any equipment / tools or input usage.

The family does not have any record on total harvest, however, they did mention that they only harvest it when it’s needed for home consumption and this is usually means one bucket of each per week. Cassava is also used for feeding animals.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 

The family is not able to produce everything on their farmland and hence has to buy items such as rice, cooking oil, salt, maize, etc. from the district market. They usually spend approximately $100 per month on buying groceries for the family.

138 | Market Development Facility



Children’s school fees are the most important and the biggest expenditure of the household. They pay a total of about $700 over six month for all the children ($1,400 annually). The second important and biggest expenditure is on food for the family, which costs approximately $1,200 annually ($100 per month x 12 months). Since there are no other job opportunities in the villages the family struggles to meet their needs including their children’s school fees. The husband manages a small canteen and makes a net profit of about $600 annually ($50 per month x 12 months), whilst the wife sells pie in the village and makes a net profit of about $520 annually ($10 per week x 5two weeks). They do not do any planning or budgeting and just spend as the need arise. At times when they do not have enough money to pay school fees they borrow it from other villagers or the buyer to whom they sell their coffee. The family does struggle in the hungry season, which is usually from January to March (3 months) and during this time they just eat whatever they have on their farm since they do not have enough money to buy other things. They usually eat taro and cassava during this time and even the parents eat less to ensure that their children are well fed so they can go to school during these hard times. Their children do not stay away from school during this time (free lunch in school) nor do they keep them home for farm work.

Opportunities 



More income opportunities: the family has limited opportunity to increase production from the farm as they have hilly land and are not able to plant vegetable crops. They have already pruned the coffee trees and have noted little increase in the yield. They have so far received information from NCB (the coffee company) on pruning and also some materials (saw for pruning and plastic to cover coffee from sun). It is time that they start replanting for long run sustainability of the coffee bean quality. Other opportunities: the family earns some additional income from their small canteen and from selling pie but there are already other canteens in the village leading to competition. It seems that the family is heavily reliant on the hope that their children will get good jobs and support them in the future.

Market Access and Assets 

 

Market Access: the family sells coffee to a regular buyer who buys from the farm gate. The wife usually walks down to the district market for an hour to sell the pumpkin leaves. She avoids paying for the transport because the amount to be sold in the market is already very less and it would not be worth spending the money on transportation. The wife also sells pie in the village. Their house is about 50m from the main road and about three hours from Dili. In terms of asset ownership, the family does not own any farm equipment / tools and household appliances. The family does not also own a motorbike, car, or bicycle. Also do not own any household appliances.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member 

According to the wife, her main responsibilities include cooking, cleaning the house and taking care of the children, while the husband’s main responsibilities are taking take care of the farm (he usually works at the farm in the morning and again in the afternoon)

Market Development Facility | 139



When asked if she could spend more time earning money for the family, she said that she would be happy to work outside but then there are no job opportunities for women in her area. However, she does sells pie in the village and pumpkin leaves at the district market. Joint spending decisions are taken on household items and school fees. She decides on food purchases, while the husband decides on farm items / equipment, livestock purchase / sales, land purchase / sales, health / medicines, social obligations and church donations. The wife does agricultural work on her own farm and helps with weeding, watering, harvesting and transportation produce. She also sells pumpkin leaves at the district market. In addition, the wife is responsible for taking care of their pigs and chickens and also decides when to sell them (when they are in real need for money). Apart from farming, she also sells home-made pies in the village. Savings: she does not have a savings account but does keep some money at home for her children’s education i.e. when they have excess money. Husband knows about this saving at home and he also has control over it. It is usually spent on school fees and food. She is not part of any other group, association or NGO program but does volunteer work for the church during certain occasions / events where she usually helps with cooking and cleaning. She thinks there are very limited opportunities for women in her village to earn money.

Interview of the male household member    

   

The husband’s activities include working on the farm, collecting water and firewood. According to him, the main role of women is cooking, looking after the children and cleaning the house. He says, he is the one who decides what she does with her time. For spending decisions – he says he is the one who decides on livestock purchase / sales, whilst the wife decides on household items and food purchases. They both decide on school fees, health medicines, social obligations and church donations. His responses do not match with the wife’s responses as she said it was the husband who decides expenditure on health / medicines, social obligations and church donations. When there is an increase in income – he said that everyone benefits, and priority is given to pay school fees first and then pay for food. He says, his wife also helps with farming activities such as planting, harvesting and selling at the district market. She also helps in feeding the chicken and pigs. He only does not allow her to harvest coffee because they have to climb the tree and then harvest, so therefore it is considered to be a man’s job. The wife also does volunteer work for the church which includes cooking and cleaning during church functions.

Western Interview #4 Code

District

Ermera

Suco

Haupu, Letefoho

Family size

10 [9 currently living in the household and one daughter living and studying in Dili]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

140 | Market Development Facility

Code

Land size

2.5 ha

Sources of income

Coffee – Gross revenue of $2,000 / year Black and white mustards –Revenue of $720 / year Pak-choi- Revenue of $240 / year Selling vegetables (buy and sell) – $600 / year Generator hire – $200 / year Seed cost of $18 ($6 / pkt x three pkts)

Total Annual Net Income

$3,742

Income per capita per day

$1.03 *based on total household size of 10 people

Crop Yields

Coffee – 2,222 kg104 Black and white mustard – 1,440 bundles105 Pak-choi – 480 bundles106

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Coffee- Yes Mustard- Yes Pak-choi- Yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold

Vegetable crops are sold at the Letofoho market

Household Expenses

School fees: $$1,000 annually Household expenses: $720 annually

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1,720

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.47

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The family has total of 10 members including eight children. The family expenses will increase in the coming years as the children start going to university. At present, only one daughter is attending university and they spend about $500 annually on her alone, whilst another $500 is spent on the rest of the seven children. The wife buys vegetables from other farmers and retails it in the Dili market for four months. There is a possibility that she could do this for the whole year, if she is able to buy enough vegetables from farmers on a year round basis and is able to make a margin out of it. The head of the household (the husband) is the one cooking and looking after the children, whilst the wife is away selling vegetables. He is also the one who works on the coffee and the vegetable farm. At present, he is not so keen to hire labours to fence more area and plant more but this could change when more of his children start attending university (possibly two from next year) and his expenditure increase. His is also not keen to use chemicals and fertilizers and thinks that it will damage his land. However if he does use them then there is scope to increase his existing production. Household Details 

The head of the household is 40 years old and studied till class 2 primary level. His wife, who is 36 years old, has studied up till junior high school.

104

Calculations based on total revenue of $2,000 and based on assumption that the average selling price was $0.90/kg Based on total revenue of $720 and selling price of $0.50 per bundle 106 Based on total revenue of $240 and average selling price of $0.5 per bundle 105

Market Development Facility | 141



  

The family has a total of eight children, seven of which are currently living in the house, whilst one daughter is staying in Dili and studying at the university. They all are currently being supported by the family. The details of the children are as follows – daughter 23 (university student), son 21 (last year at high school), daughter 19 (last year at high school), daughter 17 (1st year at high school), daughter 14 (class 6 primary), son 12 (2nd year primary), son 9 (2nd year primary), son six (1st year primary). It seemed that the head of the household was not really sure of the class / grade all his children attended, and when asked he said some had to repeat their classes because they failed their exams. Their house was made of concrete walls floor. They do own a television, radio, and have two cupboards to stock their clothing. The family owns 2.5 ha of land for crops of which 2.0 ha is used for coffee plantation and the rest of the 0.5 ha is used for growing vegetables. No one living in the house has or has ever had a wage paying (or non-wage non farming) job. The family works and relies on farming (mostly) for income.

Aspirations for Children The parents want all the children to complete university just like their eldest daughter. They think that all the children can reach university, and have been asking them to study hard. The children need to focus on studying hard and it all depends on them what they want to become. The parents just want them to get educated and find a good job and not to end up in farming like them. Sources of Income 



The family does not receive any social transfers. They do not receive any donations, charity or scholarships, nor do they receive remittances or money from other family members or other households. The family also does not get any income from property rent or interests. The family relies mainly on farming ($2,960 annually) as their main source of income. Other sources of income includes wife buying and selling vegetables ($600 annually) in the market and generator hire ($200 annually).

Farming Activities and Income    



The family has a total of 2.5 ha of land. Coffee is grown on about 2.0 ha, whilst the other 0.5 ha is used for growing vegetable crops like black and white mustard and pak-choi. During the interview the farmer informed us that he had about 1.5 ha of coffee and he earned about $2,000 from selling coffee last year. The farmer plants vegetable crops which includes black and white mustard and pak-choi three times a year. The first planting is in May and harvesting and selling takes place in June. Second planting is in August and harvesting / selling takes place in October. The last planting takes place in November and harvesting / selling is in January. The family head does all the hard work in farming and this includes land clearing, land preparation and weeding. The wife and children help with planting, weeding, watering, harvesting and selling of crops. They follow the traditional method of farming with no equipment or input usage. They only buy seeds from the district markets and it cost them $6 per packet. They pack one packet for each of the three crops – white mustard, black mustard and pak-choi.

142 | Market Development Facility

 



The farmer has four plots for each of the three crops during each planting time (4 plots / crop x three crops = 12 plots in total). Each plot is 4 m x 10 m = 40M2 The farmer makes $30 from each plot of white and black mustard and $20 from each plot of pak-choi during each planting time. During each planting time he earns a total revenue of approximately $320 ($30 per plot x 8 plots + $20 per plot x 4 plots) and by planting three times a year. His total revenue is $960 / year ($320 per each planting time x three times planted per year). The farmer sells both the crops at $0.50 per bundle. This means during each planting cycle he sells about 60 bundles of white mustard, 60 bundles of black mustard and 40 bundles of pakchoi. All crops are sold at the Letefoho market. At times he also sells to the school feeding programmes that come and buy from farm gate but then they do not come all the time. The farmer owns a motorbike so he usually goes to the market twice a week when his crops are ready for sale. He does not really face any problems in farming except that he faces a hard time in building and repairing his fence to keep away the animals that come and damage his vegetable crops.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 



The family usually buys other things that they are not able to produce and this includes rice, cooking oil, noodles, salt, dry fish, detergent, soap, etc. They spend around $60 per month on buying these items. As per the family head, food is the most important and biggest expenditure item for the family. They spend around $720 annually on the purchase of food items. The second most important expenditure item is children’s school fees. They spend about $500 annually on the daughter who is attending university ($250 per six months x 2) and $500 on buying books and clothes for the other seven children who attend junior or primary school. They do not do any planning or budgeting but the farmer seemed to be aware of how much money he needs each month. The first priority is to have food on the table as they need to feed the children to ensure they get requisite nutrition, hence the ability to concentrate on their studies. The family always ensures that they have enough food for themselves. The main source of income for the household is coffee and vegetables and the latter is also used for own consumption. In addition, the wife also buys vegetables from other farmers and retails them in the Dili market. In addition, farmer has a generator which is available for hire by others. Whenever the family has extra money they first ensure that they have food for the family and save the rest for their children’s school fees.

Opportunities 



More income opportunities: the family has the opportunity to increase vegetable production. However, before they do this they need to fence the area which is considered to be the most difficult task by this farmer. He is not interested to hire labours to get this done but plans to do it slowly on his own. The farmer could also increase his existing production by using chemicals and fertilizer. At present he is not using any as he thinks chemicals and fertilizers are not good for land (spoils the land if used) and if they use it once then they have to use it every year.

Market Development Facility | 143

Market Access and Assets 

 

Market Access: the farmer sells the vegetables at Letefoho market, while we are not sure where the farmer sells his coffee. He goes to the market on his motorbike and it takes him about five minutes to get to the market. During harvesting time he goes to the market twice a week. Although he does have a mobile phone he does not use it for finding information on price or for selling his crops. Their house is just next to the main road and close to the Letefoho market. In terms of assets, the family does not own any farm equipment (do most of the things manually and he also has a watering can which he made by cutting out a water gallon) but he owns two motorbikes (1 big and one small), two bicycles (for his children) and two generators (one for family use and one that is given out on hire at times).

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member During the time of the interview the wife was not at home as she was in Dili selling vegetables. According to the husband the wife usually buys vegetables from other farmers and then retails it at the Dili market. She does this for four months during the period of good vegetable production. On average, she is able to make profit of about $150 per month ($150 / month x 4 months = $600 annually). Interview of the male household member    

   

His activities include cooking and taking care of the children when the wife is away selling vegetables and working on the coffee and vegetable farm. According to him, the main role of women is cooking and taking care of the children. He said, he is the one who decides what she does with her time or where she goes. For spending decisions – he mentioned that he is the one who decides on the purchase of farm items / equipment, livestock purchase / sales, land purchase / sales, food purchase, social obligations and church donation. The wife decides on the purchase of medicines only, whilst they both decide on the purchase of household items or car / motorbike purchase / maintenance. According to him, when there is any increase in income, everyone in the family benefits as priority is given for food first and then school fees and clothes for everyone. He also said that there was not any activity in particular that women were not allowed / supposed to do. The wife usually travels on a weekly basis for four months during the main harvesting season retailing vegetables in the Dili market. The wife also does volunteer work for the church which includes cooking and cleaning during church events.

Western Interview #5 Code

District

Ermera

Suco

Malabe

Family size

4 [Husband, wife and two adopted children]

144 | Market Development Facility

Code

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

0.3 ha

Sources of income

White and Black mustard – $50 in total per year Cabbage – $250 in total per year Tomato – $75 in total per year Lettuce – $40 in total per year Cassava and maize – $60 Seed cost of $12 (only cabbage) Fertilizer cost ($35+$55) = $90 Transport cost $30 / month ($60 / year)

Total Annual Net Income

$313

Income per capita per day

$0.21 *based on total household size of four people

Crop Yields

White and black mustard – 285 Bundles107 Cabbage – 1,000 bundles108 Tomato – 12buckets109 Lettuce – eight buckets110

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

White and black mustard, cabbage and tomato – only during production Cassava and maize during rainy season

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold

Vegetables are sold at the Atsabe market (sub district market)

Household Expenses

School fees: $100 annually Household expenses: $300 annually

Total Annual Household Expenses

$400

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.27

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The family comprises of an elderly couple and two adopted children, one of which is a four years old daughter (disabled). The family lives in poor housing condition and farming is their only source of income. The wife used to make and sell handicraft items but now that she is old and has a relatively poor eyesight, she is not able to continue anymore. In addition, she has to stay home and look after the children particularly the disabled child. This family owns only 0.3 ha of hilly land just by the river side. They plant vegetable crops during the main season and plant cassava and maize on the same land during the rainy season. The head of the family who is in his late 50s has to do all the work on the farm, while the wife takes care of the children. The other adopted child (15 years old son) usually helps the father in farming after school. Presence of middlemen or wholesalers in this area could help this family earn more as it will create access to the market through bulk sales giving the farmer incentive to acquire more land and

Calculations based on total revenue of $50 and selling price of $0.10 – $0.25 per bundle (average selling price was $0.18 used) 1,000 bundles sold at $0.25 per bundle 109 Based on total revenue of $75 and average selling price of $6.50 per bucket 110 Based on total revenue of $40 and average selling price of $5 per bucket 107 108

Market Development Facility | 145

concentrate more intensively on farming. At present he is the only one doing farming and he spends most of the harvest time selling the produce in the market. Household Details  

   

The head of the household is 57 years old and has not been to school. His wife, who is 52 years old, has also not been to school. They do not have any children of their own, therefore they have adopted three children. One of them is married now and does not support them. The other two are currently staying with them and are dependent on household income. The eldest son is 15 years old and is currently studying in 2nd year junior high school. The youngest daughter is disabled and is not able to attend any form of formal schooling. The house is made of bamboo with a zinc roof and earth floors. They do not own a television, radio tape player / CD, and they do not have any cupboards to stock clothes. They have 0.3 ha land on which they plant white and black mustard, tomatoes, cabbage and lettuce. They also plant cassava and maize on the same land during the rainy season. No one living in the house has or ever had a wage paying (or non-wage non farming) job. They both are old now and depend on farming for employment / income.

Aspirations for Children The couple want the son to get educated, so he can become something in life and / or have a good job. For this to happen, the son needs to study hard and also needs support to go to university. The couple are elderly now and are concerned that they may not be able to afford to send him to university on their own. Sources of Income 



Farming Activities and Income 

 



The family has 0.3 ha of land on which they plant black and white mustard, cabbage, tomato and lettuce. All crops are planted close to the end of the rainy season in March / April and harvested and sold in June / July. After harvesting the vegetable crops the family then plants cassava and maize at the start of the rainy season in August / September. Most of the farm work for all crops is done by the head of the family, while the wife and son help with planting and watering. This farmer has been to the Indonesian agricultural school so he knows about the use of chemicals and fertilizers. He uses one bag of white and one bag of black fertilizer per year and the reason for using fertilizer is that it makes vegetables grow faster and better. The farmer sold $50 worth of black and white mustard at $0.10–0.25 per bundle, $250 worth of cabbage at $0.25 per bundle, $75 worth of tomato at $6–7 per bucket (wholesale price) or $0.25 per 4–5 piece (retail price), and $40 worth of lettuce at $5 per bucket (wholesale price) or $0.15–0.25 per piece (retail price). They also plant maize and cassava on the same piece of land after harvesting these crops. This is mainly for home consumption and is only sold if it is available in excess.

146 | Market Development Facility



The head of the family sells all the vegetables by himself at the sub district (Atsabe) market. He usually goes to the market on a truck and it costs him $1 for a bag of vegetables, in addition to the $0.5 passenger fare. It takes about an hour for him to reach the market. Estimated transport cost per month are about $30 (he goes to the market regularly to sell probably two months out of the year based on the crop calendar). He sells all his produce at the market except for cabbage which he sells only to a particular individual to whom he has been selling since prior to independence from Indonesia. This buyer picks up the cabbage from his farm gate and also offers a fixed price of $0.25 per bundle. Once his crops are ready for harvest then he goes to the market about 3–4 times a week. He prefers to sell his vegetables in bulk to other vendors, and only if he is not able to sell it in wholesale, he ends up retailing the leftover by himself.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 

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The family grows vegetables close to the end of the rainy season (mostly for sale but is also for home consumption) and also grows cassava and maize at the start of the rainy season (mostly for home consumption and only excess is sold). They also buy other groceries from Atsabe market which includes items like rice, cooking oil, sugar, salt, soap, etc. They spend about $25 on food items every month. Their most important expenditure is school fees for the son which is currently about $100 per year. The next most important expenditure is food for the family and they spend about $300 on food annually. The family does not have enough money so they do not do any form of planning or budgeting. Whatever little money they have, they try to use it to pay their son’s school fees and buy food items that they do not grow. There are times when the family does not have enough money to buy food especially rice (which they prefer to eat all the time). The whole family is affected during this period, which is usually about 2–3 months per year. During this phase they eat cassava and maize instead of rice and sometimes they even eat less compared to other times.

Opportunities More income opportunities: the couple are elderly and do not have any other opportunity other than farming. They also have limited land on which they can plant in both seasons (vegetables in the main season and maize and cassava in rainy season). For this family to increase their household income they need to access more land so they can plant more. The wife used to make and sell handicraft items but she cannot do so anymore due to poor eyesight. The family is entirely dependent on farming for their survival. Market Access and Assets 

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Market Access: As mentioned above, the farmer travels on a truck to the Atsabe market to sell all the vegetables except cabbage. He prefers to sell to wholesalers and only if he is not able to sell through a wholesalers, he retails the vegetables himself. Their house is just next to the main road and it takes about an hour to reach the market by truck. Assets: the family does not own any farm equipment / tools, motorbike, car, bicycle or household items.

Market Development Facility | 147

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member   

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According to the wife, her main responsibilities are cooking, cleaning the house, washing dishes and clothes and taking care of the children. Husband’s main responsibilities are to focus on the farming activities including the selling of vegetables. When asked if she could spend more time earning money for the family, she mentioned that she used to make and sell handicraft items but now since she is old and cannot see properly, she is not able to continue making handicraft. For spending decisions – she said they both decide on livestock purchase / sales, household items, food purchase, school fees, health / medicines, and church donations. She does not decide on anything by herself and it is the husband that decides on farm items and social obligations. She does agricultural work on her own farm, where she helps with planting, weeding and also helps with selling of some vegetables (cabbage). She is the one who feeds the chicken that they have and when she sells it she keeps the money. Savings: she does not have a savings account and they have very little money to keep. She is not part of any other group, association or a NGO program but does volunteer work for church during special events, where she usually helps with cooking and cleaning. She thinks there are very limited opportunities for women in her village to earn money especially when they are about an hour’s drive away from the district market.

Interview of the male household member    

 

His activities include cooking and taking care of the children (only when the wife is away) working on the farm and selling vegetables. According to him, the main role of the woman is to take care of the kids, cooking, cleaning the house and washing clothes. He said, he is the one who decides what she does with her time or where she goes. For spending decisions – he mentioned that he is the one who decides on the purchase of farm items / equipment’s and social obligations. The wife decides on livestock purchase / sales, whilst they both decide on household items, food purchase, school fees, health / medicines and church donations. (His response contradicts the response of the wife) He mentioned that when there is any increase in income everyone benefits as they first try to buy food for the family. The wife also helps with farming activities at times but has to stay home most of the time to take care of the daughter as she needs special attention. She is the one who feeds the chickens at home as well. He also said that there was not any activity in particular that women were not allowed / supposed to do. The wife also does volunteer work for the church which includes cooking and cleaning during church functions.

148 | Market Development Facility

Western Interview #6 Code

District

Bobonaro

Suco

Manapa

Family size

8 [Husband, wife, five children and husbands elder sister who is also staying with the family]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

1 ha (Church land – they do not own it)

Sources of income

Vegetables – $1,500 in total for all vegetables Costs – $100 for land preparation, $120 for fertilizer and $25 for seeds

Total Annual Net Income

$1,255

Income per capita per day

$0.43 *based on total household size of eight people

Crop Yields

Rice – 500kg111 Black and White mustard – 1,500 bundles112 Cabbage – 1,500 bundles Eggplant – 750 heaps Water Spinach – 1,500 bundles

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice – yes Vegetables – Yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold

All vegetables sold in Maliana market

Household Expenses

Schooling fees: $450 annually Food expenses: $180 annually

Total Annual Household Expenses

$630

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.21

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The family comprises of a husband, wife, five children and the husband’s eldest sister. They seem to be very poor but have quite a lot of savings and also a few assets. This includes paying $1,500 to the church for the house block, buying a second hand hand-tractor for $700 and a rice processing machine for $700. The family is trying their best to earn as much as they can to feed the family and save money for their children’s school fees. The family at present is fully dependent on farming for their household income even though they do not own land and are planting on church land. For them to earn more, either they have to start planting other high value crops on the same piece of land or simply need access to more land to plant more, so that they can earn more. This family has been using modern farming techniques. They are using a

20 bags z 25kg per bag – all for home consumption Based on assumption that $1,500 total revenue from vegetables was equally spread between all the four crops. Black and white mustard, cabbage and water spinach sold at $0.25 per bundle whilst eggplant sold at $0.50 per heap. 111 112

Market Development Facility | 149

tractor to prepare land (even their own hand-tractor) and also using inputs like chemicals and fertilizers to get a high yield. Hence, if they have access to additional land then there is a possibility of them being able to plant and earn more. Household Details   

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The head of household is 50 years old, and has never been to school. His wife, who is 43 years old, has also never been to school. The family has a total of five children, all of which are currently staying together. Husbands elder sister, who is 62 years old, is also staying with this family. Details on the children are as follows – son 19 (helping in the farm), daughter 16 (final year student at junior high school), son 14 (5th year primary school), son 10 (2nd year primary school) and five year old daughter. The eldest son, who is currently 19 years old, left school after 4th year at primary school due to certain disabilities. Now he helps his parents on the farm. The house is made of bamboo with a zinc roof and earth floors. They do not own a television radio tape player / CD, and they do not have any cupboards to stock clothes. The family does not own any land. Just recently (two years ago) they bought their housing block from the Church for $1,500 and built a house on it. At present, they are farming on 1 ha of church land. They give two bags of rice to the church and also supply vegetables for free during church functions as a means of paying rent to use this 1 ha land for farming. No one living in the house has or ever had a wage paying (or non-wage non farming) job. The family works and relies on farming as their main source of income.

Aspirations for Children The head of the family said that they are sacrificing for their children’s education. They just want them to get educated and get a good job. The parents are doing their part and will continue to support the children in their studies, and they also know that their children will need to study hard to become something in life. Sources of Income 

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The family does not receive any social transfers, donations, charity or scholarships, nor do they receive remittances or money from other family members or other households. The family also does not get any income from property rent or interests. Rice is the main crop for this family but then it is cultivated for home consumption only. The only source of income for this family is through the sale of vegetable crops.

Farming Activities and Income The family does not own any land. They are currently farming on 1 ha of church land and in return give two bags of rice and supply free vegetables to the church during events every year. 

Rice: ˗

Rice is planted in February and harvested in June; grown just once a year. Vegetables crops are planted all throughout the year so that the family has some money all the time. When rice is being planted, only small blocks of few vegetables are planted. After harvesting rice, the whole field is cultivated and vegetables are planted on the same piece of land until the next rice planting season.

150 | Market Development Facility

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The head of the family and the eldest son are the ones who work on the farm all the time. They are the ones that clear the land, do land preparation, planting, weeding and harvesting. The wife, elder sister and other children also help during planting, weeding and harvesting. They hired a tractor for land preparation and it cost them $100 (complete land preparation for 1 ha of land – ploughing x 2 times and harrowing). They also use chemicals and fertilizers as they t learnt the benefits of these inputs prior to independence from Indonesia. Last year they used two bags of fertiliser but did not use any chemicals as there was no pest / disease problem. They use their own seeds for rice but for vegetable crops they buy the seeds from Maliana market (last year they spent a total of $25 on seeds). Since rice is their main staple food, it is grown just for home consumption. Last year they harvested a total of 20 bags x 25kg / bag. Two bags were given to the church and one bag was given to their family living in another village, as they do not grow rice. Vegetables: ˗

˗ ˗

Vegetable crops are the main source of income for the family. They plant black and white mustard, cabbage, and eggplant and water spinach for sale and also for home consumption. Last year they sold vegetables worth of $1,500 in total (the family was not sure of the volume of each crop being harvested). Vegetables are mostly for sale with little kept for consumption. In addition, they also gave some vegetables to the church last year as per their need. Black and white mustard, cabbage and water spinach are sold at $0.25 per bundle, whilst eggplant is sold at $0.50 per heap. The son uses the wheelbarrow to help transport the vegetables to the market. All the vegetables are sold at the Maliana market by his wife. Previously, when they were staying close to the main road they used to sell vegetables from their house but now since they moved a km away, people do not know their house so his wife has to sell the vegetables at the market.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 

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 

The family produces most of the items that they need for their daily food intake hence they spend very little on buying food items. They spend about $15 ($180 annually) a month on buying products like cooking oil, salt, soap, detergent, meat (only at times), etc. Food for the family and children’s school fees are the two most important expenditure for the family. They spend about $180 on food annually and about $400–500 on children’s school fees, cloths, books, and at times the bus fare. The family also owns a hand tractor which they usually use for land preparation for planting vegetables or even rice at times. They mostly use it on their own farm and at times also on other people’s farm. They do not get paid for it but get some rice in return. They do not do any form of planning or budgeting and just spend as the need arises. They also own a hand tractor and rice processor, which they bought for $700 each. The family does face the hungry season which is usually from November to January (3 months of the rainy season when they do not get much from their farmland) and during this time they just eat whatever they have on their farm since they do not have enough money to buy other things. Due to shortage of funds, they usually boil the vegetables instead of buying and using oil for cooking. Their children do not stay away from school during this time (free lunch in school), nor do they keep them home for farm work.

Market Development Facility | 151

Opportunities More income opportunities: farming is the main source of income for the family and there seems to be limited opportunity for both the head of the family and his eldest son to work outside the farm. The only way to earn more is through improved access to more land and planting more vegetables for sale. They have already invested in buying a piece of land to build a house, bought a second hand tractor and rice processing machine, therefore they just need additional land to plant more. The head of the family has been farming since prior to independence from Indonesia, and is well aware of the use of tools, chemicals and fertilizers to get higher yield. He could also explore planting other high value crops to get more from the same piece of land. Market Access and Assets 

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Market Access: the wife walks for an hour to get to the Maliana market for selling vegetables. Only when they have a large stock of vegetables for sale, the son uses the wheel barrow to help transport the vegetables to the market. Their house is about 1–2 km from the main road and about 2–4 km from the Maliana market. In terms of assets, the family has just recently bought a piece of land ($1,500) from the church to build their house. In addition, they own a second-hand hand-tractor and a small rice processing machine (both bought for $700 each few years ago).

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member The interviewee’s wife was not available at home during the time of the interview as she was at the farm planting the water spinach. Therefore we had to ask the gender relevant questions to the male member of the household. Interview of the male household member    



His main activity is to work in the farm. In addition, he also helps take care of kids when he is at home. According to him, the main role of women is cooking, looking after the children and cleaning the house. His wife does not do any volunteer work in the community or church. According to him, he decides what his wife does with her time. The husband mentioned that his wife also helps with farming activities and these includes helping with planting, watering, harvesting, selling and also feeding livestock when she is at home. However, he does not prefer his wife to work on other peoples’ farm and he prefers that she does the household chores and works on their own farm only. For spending decisions – the husband decides on the expenditure on farm item / equipment / tools and car / motorbike purchase and maintenance. All other expenditure decisions are taken jointly. When there is an increase in income everyone benefits as priority is given to pay school fees first and then food and clothes for the family.

152 | Market Development Facility

Western Interview #7 Code

District

Bobonaro

Suco

Rai Fun

Family size

6 [6 in household, total supported in full or in part]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

0.5 ha

Sources of income

Rice: net income $780 / annually Salary: $3,600 / annually Vegetables: $500 net income Costs: $475 ( transport, tractor, labour and inputs)

Total Annual Net Income

$4,405

Income per capita per day

$2.01 *based on six people living in the house

Crop Yields

Rice: 48 bags (50 kg bags)

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Rice: Yes * Most of the time – at least in last two years.

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold Household Expenses

Schooling for kids: $200 annually Household expenses: $1,200 annually

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1,400

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.64

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions After graduating from an agricultural school the interviewee joined an NGO as an agriculture facilitator in 2009, with a salary of $300/month. The project ended last year and since then he has gone back to farming (cultivating rice and vegetables), while looking for a suitable job. The wife is not able to work or help in the farm as she has to take care of the children and do the cooking for the family. From the discussions, it seemed that with some savings he was in the process of building a new concrete house on the same block of land; however, after losing the job he was not able to complete the house. The best way forward for this family would be to find a good suitable job (either in a development program / NGO or even with the government since he already has experience of working on agriculture). In the meantime, he could concentrate on his farm and apply his knowledge of good vegetable cultivation practices, to commercially sell vegetables for a better income. Household Details  

The head of the household is 40 years old and has graduated from a technical school on agriculture. His wife, 37 years old, has also completed high school.

Market Development Facility | 153

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Their family comprise of six members, all of who live in the same house together. They have four children – a son (12) in school; two daughters (12 and 9 respectively) all attending school, another daughter (2½ years old) and a son (4 months), who have not yet started schooling. Their house (which is still under construction) is made of concrete with a zinc roof and sand floors. They own a television and one cupboard to stock clothes. The family owns 0.5 ha of land for crops which is used for rice and vegetable cultivation He used to work as an agriculture facilitator until the project ended in December 2013.

Aspirations for Children 

The parents want their children to get a good education and secure good jobs in the future.

Sources of Income  

The family does not receive any social transfers, donations, charity or scholarships, nor do they receive remittances or money from other family members. The husband earned a monthly salary of $300 ($3,600 annually) but since the closure of the project he has now returned to farming.

Farming Activities and Income The family has approximately 0.5 ha of total land which is lowland and has access to irrigation. 

Rice: ˗

˗ ˗ ˗

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They plant rice once a year on half a hectare of the total land i.e. in January and February, followed by the harvest in May. From the harvest, they get approximately get 48 bags of rice (50kg / each). They consume half of the 24 bags, and give two bags from their share to their extended family living in other districts. The remaining 1024 bags are sold. Rice sales: They sell rice for $0.50 / can (SGM milk can); one bag of rice contains 65 cans, so for 24 rice bags, they gets approx. $780 each harvest. They sell the produce at market price. The transportation cost is $0.50 / bag on a motorbike, which cost $12.00 for 24 bags. Rice Cultivation: He uses fertiliser on rice because the soil is poor, hence, it needs to be used to increase yield. One bag of fertiliser cost $50 (price of year 2013) due to limited supply but previously he only paid $25 / bag. Other costs include renting a tractor for land preparation i.e. before planting the rice. This costs him $35 / year. For the rice farm, the farmer rents a tractor including fuel and also pays approximately $300 for land preparation and harvesting. In total, he bears a cost of $475 approximately for tractor, fuel, labour, inputs etc.

Vegetables: ˗

˗ ˗ ˗

After rice harvesting he uses the same land to grow maize and vegetables (water spinach, eggplant and white mustard). Maize is mainly kept for his own consumption but other vegetables are both sold and consumed (own consumption is relatively lower than sales). He sold $500 worth of vegetables last year. Fertilisers and chemicals are not used on vegetables as the farmer believes that it will affect the flavour of the vegetables. Since he also keeps vegetables for his own consumption, he prefers not to use any form of chemicals or fertilisers for it. The farmer buys seeds for vegetables from the district market where he pays $3 for eggplant seed, $6 for water spinach seeds and $3 for mustard seeds. He does not need to buy maize seeds as he gets it free from MAF. The husband works on the farm mostly for growing vegetables (land clearing, land preparation and planting, watering and harvesting), while the wife helps in vegetable

154 | Market Development Facility

processing / grading before selling. She also takes the vegetables to the market (which is 10 minutes away) on a wheel cart with the help from her children. In addition, she works on the kitchen garden which needs watering twice a day. However, she mainly focuses on household chores (cooking, cleaning, looking after the children, etc.).  

In addition to agriculture, the family rears pigs and chickens and only sells them if they need money. The only source of farm related information is MAF, and the last time they got any information on cultivation techniques and the production of seeds was nearly four years ago. According to him, the training was useful as his yield increased after following the suggested techniques, prior to which he was only using traditional methods (that resulted in lower yields).

Self Sufficiency and Expenses   

The family spends approximately $100 / month in total for day-to-day expenses and household supplies such as cooking oil, sugar etc. Expenses: Payment for school uniform, book, etc. is about $100 / year. The family does not budget or plan their spending or income – they just spend as it comes.

Opportunities  

The farmer intends to try and plant well this year and work by himself to reduce the labour cost. He’s also making his own seeds for vegetables to reduce the cost of buying inputs. At the same time, he is searching for jobs to be better able to support his family financially.

Market Access  

The farmer’s house is located close to the district market and is about 10 minutes walking distance to the market. As far as assets are concerned, the family does not own any farm equipment. However, they do own some household appliances (e.g. rice cooker, electric kettle) and a motorbike.

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member    

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According to her, her main responsibilities are cooking, cleaning the house and taking care of the children at all times. The husband’s main responsibilities are to work on the farm and try to find a good job to support the family. When asked if she could spend more time earning money for the family she responded that she already helps her husband selling the vegetables in the market. They jointly decide on livestock purchase, expenditure on household items, school fees, social obligation and church donation. She independently takes decisions on medicines and food purchase, while the husband makes the decisions on motorbike purchase and farm related expenditures. In case of farming, she looks after the kitchen garden, does watering twice a day and also helps her husband in selling the vegetables in the district market. She intends to help him in increasing crop yields, and in growing more vegetables in the kitchen garden. She says, she is the one who decides on her time.

Market Development Facility | 155

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Her husband does not allow her to work on the farm far from home, as she has to look after the children and cook for them. As far as savings are concerned, she does not have any savings but she does keep money to buy vegetable and house supplies. In the contrary, her husband has some savings, which he kept from his salary and from the sale of rice and vegetables. Nevertheless, they jointly take spending decisions. It is particularly applicable for education and house construction. She does not belong to any other group, association or a NGO program, nor is she involved in any volunteer or church work. She says there are many women who earn better income from small shops / kiosks in the market and also by selling food, handicraft and clothes.

Interview of the male household member    

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His activities include cooking and cleaning when the wife is busy with the baby, taking care of the children and collecting firewood. According to him the main role of women is cooking, taking care of the house and taking care of the children all the time. He says they both decide on what she does with her time; what needs to be done and when. According to the husband, he makes the decisions on farming and motorbike purchase. Joint decisions are taken on livestock purchase, household items, land sales, school fees, social obligations and church donations. However, the wife decides on food purchase and medicines. He has a savings book, which is kept by his wife and they both decide what to spend on. He says they all benefit when the household income increases. The additional amount is spent on- paying the school fees for kids and ensuring availability of food for the whole family. These two items are their priorities. He prefer his wife to stay at home, look after the children and cook and only work in the kitchen garden. He is not aware of any volunteer work for women in the community.

Western Interview #8 Code

District

Bobonaro

Suco

Balibo Vila

Family size

7 [7 currently living in the household]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

1 ha

Sources of income

Daughter’s salary – $4,800 per year113 Social transfer – $720 per year Handicraft sales – $100 Farming is for home consumption only. Vegetable seeds cost – $14 in total and land clearing costs about $20 (information from last year-2013).

Total Annual Net Income

$5,586

113

Family is dependent on daughter to support the family. They do farming so that the daughter does not have to spend money on buying food. Farming is for home consumption only. Both husband and wife are very old and receive social transfer of $180 per six monthly for each of them.

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Code

Income per capita per day

$2.18 *based on total household size of seven people

Crop Yields

Maize – 4-5 drums (grains only) Mung beans – two bags x 30kg per bag Black beans – two bags x 30 kg per bag Peanuts – 1-two bags (yield depends on rain) Cassava – 40 bags x 30 kg per bag

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Maize – Yes Cassava – Yes

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold

Planting maize, cassava and other vegetable crops for home consumption only.

Household Expenses

Household expenses: $3,600 annually School fees: $200 annually

Total Annual Household Expenses

$3,800

Expenditure per capita per day

$1.49

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions This household consists of an elderly couple, who are about 70 years old, their daughter (employed) and son-in-law, one granddaughter and two adopted children. They are entirely dependent on their daughter, who is a Lab Technician by profession and is living with them for food and support. The couple also have two sons and two daughters who are now living in Dili. Both sons are drivers and married, therefore are not able to support the couple while the two daughters are also married and have their own family to support. The couple are doing farming so that their daughter does not have to spend a lot of money buying food for the family. They grow maize, mung beans, black beans, peanuts and cassava, and all these are for home consumption only. Because of their age they are not in a position to cultivate more. They currently cultivate for home consumption to reduce household expenditure on buying food. The elderly couple’s son-in-law used to be a translator for one of the development programs but at present does not have a job. The wife does not want him to go and work in Dili, nor can she accompany him there because she does not want to lose her current job on which the whole family is dependent. The only way the household could earn more money is if the son-in-law finds a good job in the village or if he starts to cultivate vegetables for sale (which he did not seem to be much interested in). Household Details   

The head of the household is close to 80 years old and his wife is about 70 years old, and they both have not been to school. The family has a total of five children of their own – two sons and two daughters, who are now living in Dili and are all married and living on their own. Only one daughter is living with them – her husband and daughter are also staying together.

Market Development Facility | 157

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The couple also have two adopted daughters staying with them. The eldest one is 14 years old (studied up till 4th year primary and now staying home) and the youngest one is seven years old (1st year primary). The house has concrete walls and concrete floor but it is incomplete – the family does not have the money to complete it right now. They do have a television, radio tape player / CD, and they have three cupboards for stocking clothes. They have only 1 ha of land on which they plant crops for home consumption only. The elderly couple are living with one of their daughters who is a Lab technician by profession and working full time since 2008.

Aspirations for Children The couple want their adopted daughter and granddaughter to go up till university level. It depends on the children what they want to become but they just want them to get educated. Since they are very old they do not think they will be able to support them but depend on their daughter who is currently advising them to study hard and support them with their studies. Sources of Income 

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The daughter who is staying with them is currently working as a lab technician since 2008. She is getting an annual salary of about $4,800 ($400 per month x 12 months). She studied at the university on a government scholarship and the government also provided her with the current job. The elderly couple also receive social transfers of $180 / person every six months. Both of them receive $720 annually ($360 per person per year x 2 persons). The wife also makes some handicraft items and sells it. She made about $100 from this last year.

Farming Activities and Income   



The family just owns 1 ha of land on which they plant all their crops for home consumption. They plant maize, mung beans, black beans, peanuts and cassava. Maize and cassava are inter-cropped in October / November and maize is harvested in January / February while cassava is planted whenever required (after 6–8 months of planting). The elderly couple are the only ones who work full time in the farm for managing the crops. Now since the son in law is no longer working, at times he helps with cleaning the farm and carrying the harvest to the house. Last year they used government tractor to cultivate the land and it cost them only $20. Before they used to hire labour to clear and cultivate the land and it cost them about $50 per year. Labour charges were around $3–4 per day and it is difficult to get labours at the right time for planting because everyone works on their own farm. They do not use any chemicals and fertilizers as it is not available and very expensive if found. They also believe that if they use it once then they have to use it all the time or else they will have very low yields. Generally, they use their own seeds for maize and cassava while the government also provides some maize seeds (information on last year). They bought seeds for mung beans ($2 per can – one can only), black beans ($2 per can – one can only, and peanuts ($5 per can – two cans). They harvested about five drums of maize (grains only) last year. Half of this was for home consumption, whilst the other half for used for animal feed (chicken and pigs). They have a storage problem and this leads to about 10–15% loss, which is then fed to the animals. They

158 | Market Development Facility



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also give about 20kg to their children who are currently staying in Dili (about 5 kg per each child). They think that the market price of maize is not that good, therefore it is better not to sell it. If they sell it and then run out of it then they have to buy it again to feed their animals. Therefore, they only use maize for their own consumption and animal feed. All other vegetables crops are planted after maize is harvested in February / March as well as harvested in May / June. They harvested about two bags of mung beans, two bags of black beans, two bags of peanuts and 40 bags of cassava last year (30 kg bags). All of these were for their home consumption, while half of the total cassava harvest was also used as animal feed.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses 



The couple try to plant whatever they can for home consumption so that they do not have to spend money on buying vegetables. However, the daughter spends about $300 per month on buying food for the family (this includes buying milk and other things for her two year old daughter). Food items that they usually buy include rice, cooking oil, detergent, salt, sugar, coffee, firewood, etc. Food including milk for the baby is the most important and the biggest expenditures of the family. They spend about $200 on school fees, clothes and books for the daughter attending school. They do not do any planning or budgeting as they usually do not have any other money apart from social transfers. They are trying to use this money to complete their house as their daughter’s salary is used to buy food and other items for the family. The family does not face any hungry season as they always have enough food to eat. This is possible through them planting vegetables and also because their daughter has a full time employment.

Opportunities 



There seems to be very limited income earning opportunities for the elderly couple. Although the head of the household complained about poor soil fertility, if he starts using fertilizers then there could be an increase in the yield or he could even plant a bit more, so he can sell his produce and get additional income. Keeping in mind his age this is highly unlikely to happen. The wife is making some handicraft (baskets) based on orders, and she could continue to do that for few more years. The only other possibility is for the son-in-law to find a good job somewhere in the village or if he starts to help the elderly couple and take over the farming responsibilities. His interest seems to be in finding a good job rather than farming.

Market Access and Assets 



Market Access: The family stays close to the market which is only five minutes’ walking distance away from their house. They usually go to the market every Monday when it’s the market day. They go there either to buy food items, at times seeds or just to look around to understand the market. Assets: the elderly couple do not own any agricultural tools, while the son-in-law has a car and a motor bike. They also have a stove which was bought by their daughter.

Section on Gender

Market Development Facility | 159

Interview of the female household member   

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  

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According to the elderly female member of the household, her main responsibilities are cooking, cleaning the house, looking after the children and also helping in the farm. The husband’s main responsibilities are to work on the farm and feed the animals – chickens and pigs. When asked if she could spend more time earning money for the family she mentioned that she is too old now and will not be able to do hard work in the farm. However, she can continue making handicraft and sell it to get some money for the family. On spending decisions, it was explained that the husband decides on the farm items / equipment, while she takes decisions on food purchase. Joint decisions are taken on livestock purchase / sales, household items, land purchase / sales, school fees, health / medicines, social obligations and church donations. She does agricultural work on her own farm – she helps in cleaning, planting and harvesting. She also helps in feeding pigs and chickens. She said that she is not allowed to do difficult things or carry heavy things as she is old and might get hurt or fall sick. As for savings she does not have a bank account but does save some money at home. The husband knows about this. They both contribute to it, as it is part of their social transfer money. She is not part of any other group, association or a NGO program and does not do any volunteer work for community or church functions. She does not see many opportunities for women in her village.

Interview of the male household member    

   

His activities include working on the farm and feeding animals. According to him, the main role of women is cooking, washing clothes and cleaning the house. He says, his wife makes her own decisions on how she spends her time. For spending decisions – he says he is the one who decides on farm items / equipment, land purchases / sales, and social obligations, while the wife decides on food purchases only. They both decide on livestock purchase / sales, household items, school fees, health / medicines and church donations. His answers are a bit different from what the wife told us – wife said that they both decide on social obligations and land purchase / sales together, whilst the husband said, he decides alone. According to him, when there is an increase in income everyone benefits as they buy food for the family and also try to use it to complete their house. He says, his wife also helps with farming activities such as cleaning, planting and harvesting. She also helps in feeding chickens and pigs. He only does not allow her to do heavy work as she is old now and she could get sick or hurt easily. They do not have enough money to spend medicine and health treatment often. The wife does not do any volunteer work for the church or the community.

Western Interview #9 Code

District

Bobonaro

Suco

Balibo Vila, (Bairo Fatuk Kuak)

160 | Market Development Facility

Code

Family size

6 [5 are currently living in the household and one lives and studies outside of the village]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

0.5 ha

Sources of income

Mung bean: $10 net income Salary: $1,380 / year Par time job in a project; $240 / year Veterinary; $1,100 / year Donut: $520 / year Costs: $12 tractor, $350 (medicine and ingredients for donut)

Total Annual Net Income

$2,888

Income per capita per day

$1.31 *based on six people living in the house

Crop Yields

maize â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2.5 drums

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

maize, cassava, pumpkins, black bean and mung bean: yes *Most of the time*

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold Household Expenses

Schooling for son in Dili: $500annually Household expenses: $1,200 annually

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1,700

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.78

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions Both husband and wife are working hard to meet their family needs. They both work on the farm and only grow crops (maize, pumpkin etc.) which do not rely on water. Since they only rely on the rainy season to grow crops, the number of vegetables they can grow is limited. Therefore they are always looking for other sources of income to supplement their current earnings. Due to this particular reason it seems that the family is gradually moving out of agriculture into other income sources. The husband had been part of a training by some animal experts, who also gave services of a veterinary doctor in the village. The husband is currently exploring possibilities of a similar profession i.e. outside the village to earn more money. They sold some mung beans last year and from the interview it seemed that the wife is interested in planting more for selling this year. The main market is very accessible from their house as it is only about five minutesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; walking distance from their residence. This short distance to market acts as an incentive for the wife to concentrate on vegetable production during the rainy season, as she is able to sell the produce quickly in the market. Household Details ď&#x201A;§

The head of the household is 43 years old and only attended school till the 3rd year of senior high school. His wife is 36 years and she also stopped attending schooling after the 3rd year of junior high school.

Market Development Facility | 161



 

The house currently has five family members living together. The eldest daughter (19) studies at the agriculture technical school (SPP), and the three other children live with the family (15, 9, and seven all attend school). The house is made of bamboo with a zinc roof and concrete floors. They own a television and a cupboard to stock clothes. They own 0.5 ha of land for crops, which is used to cultivate maize and vegetables.

Aspirations for Children The parents want the children to study hard as they want them to have a good job in the future. Sources of Income  



 

The family does not receive any social transfers, donations, charity or scholarships, nor do they receive remittances or money from other family members. They secured a microfinance loan from Moris Rasik. They took $500 in 2012, paid off and took another $500 last year (2013) to support the family in making donuts, buying medicines for veterinary services, paying school fees and buying food. The husband works as a security guard 24 hours a week and earns $115 / month. He also serves as a veterinary doctor to treat sick animals (livestock) and earns approximately $100200 / month during the rainy season, and about $50 per month during the dry season ($150 / month x 5 months + $50 / month x 7 months = $1,100 annually). His wife makes donut and sells it in the district market once a week and gets $10 / week ($10 / week x 5two weeks = $520 annually) Wife is also involved in a development project as a facilitator to monitor labour. From this job, she earns $20 / month ($20 / month x 12 months = $240 annually).

Farming Activities and Income    



The family owns approximately 0.5 ha of land in total, all of which is lowland. They grow maize and other crops (cassava, pumpkin, black bean and mung bean) on the same land during the rainy season only. They plant these crops mainly for household consumption except for mung bean, as everyone grows the same crops, so no one will buy. He uses his own retained seeds for all crops. They plant Maize once a year in November, which is harvested in March / April. They also plant Cassava in September (harvest in July / August), Pumpkin in November (harvest in March), Black Bean in November (harvest in May) and Mung Bean in March (harvest in July) Maize harvest: He gets 2.5 drums of 2,200ltr (after remove from cob). Of the total harvest, half is kept for household consumption and the other half is kept for animal feed. (They also eat some fresh maize). In addition, they also give one bag of 25 kg from their share to the family members who live in other district. Mung bean harvest: he got one bag of 50 kg last year, half was kept for household consumption and the surplus was sold to the people in the community for $0.40 / kg (he follows the market price and he gets around $10 / harvest). Other crops; pumpkin (gets five bags of 25 kg / harvest), mostly kept for house consumption and very little for feeding livestock. Cassava (gets 7–8 bags of 25 kg / harvest), half of which is kept for household consumption and half for feeding livestock. Black bean (gets ½ bag of 25 kg / harvest), all for household consumption. Crop Cultivation: The farmer does not use any fertilizers or chemical on the crops because they are not available in the market. Also, he does not know how to use it. He rents the hand

162 | Market Development Facility



 

tractor from the government (MAF) and pay $12 for fuel to help with land preparation before planting. The farmer does most of the work on the farm (cleaning, planting, and weeding) and his wife and children help with planting and harvesting. The wife’s main role is to focus on the household (cooking, etc.) and she also makes donuts to sell in the district market once a week. The family also rears pig and chicken, and only sell them if they really need the money. No support is received from MAF except for the hand tractor.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses  

 

If yields are low and the harvest is not good, they will sell pigs and chickens. The farmer spends in total $100 / month approx. ($100 / month x 12 months = $1,200 annually) for day-to-day expenses and household supplies such as cooking oil, sugar etc. Other expenses include payment for school fee for the daughter studying at SPP and other children attending school, all of which adds up to $500 per year. The family does not budget or plan their spending or income.

Opportunities Previously, the farmer was doing everything manually but just recently tractors have become available, so he plans to plant more to increase yield. This also depends on the weather as they only rely on natural rain due to the water shortage in Balibo. Market Access  

The house is 10 minutes’ walking distance from the market. In terms of assets, the family does not own any farm equipment but they have a refrigerator to support their business (store medicines for animals and ingredients for making donuts).

Section on Gender Interview of the female household member   

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 

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According to her, her main responsibilities include cooking, cleaning the house, taking care of the children and colleting water. The husband’s main responsibilities include working in the farm and focusing on his jobs. When asked if she could spend more time earning money for the family, she responded that she already helps the husband on the farm in planting, harvesting and selling from home. Also, she makes donut and sells to the market to buy food for the family. Joint decisions are made on livestock purchase, household items, land purchase, school fees, health, motorbike purchase, social obligation and church donation. The wife is responsible for deciding on food purchases and husband decides on farm equipment. Savings: The wife has an account with a microfinance institute, and she needs to deposit a certain amount every month to pay back the loan. The wife also works as a volunteer to help the church in teaching the bible to children in their community. In addition, she also participates in a government program (PNDS) to monitor / control the labour for suco projects. According to her, all women are doing something or the other (such as taking loan from microfinance institutions etc.) to support their respective families.

Market Development Facility | 163

Interview of the male household member    

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The husband’s activities include cooking when the wife is sick or away, taking care of the children and collecting firewood. According to him, the main role of women is cooking, cleaning the house and taking care of the children. He says they both discuss and decide on what she does with her time. Joint decisions are made on livestock purchase, household items, land purchase, school fees, health, motorbike purchase, social obligation and church donation. He decides on farm equipment and his wife decides on food purchase. He says, they all t benefit when there is an increase in household income, as it will allow them to give school fees for the children and also buy food for the whole family. He says, his spouse works in the field and her task is to harvest, plant and process crops. She is also responsible for feeding the pigs and chickens. According to the husband, there are no tasks that women are forbidden to do on the farm. He does not allow his wife to do the heavy work (such as land preparation, collecting firewood) as it not suitable for women. Women in village do volunteer work with church and some also work for government projects. If more buyers come to their house to buy crops the women in particular would spend more time in farming as they would not have to go far away.

Western Interview #10 Code

District

Bobonaro

Suco

Sanirin

Family size

7 [7 in household, supported in full or in part]

Number of Family Members Under 18 years

Land size

0.5 ha

Sources of income

Salary: $1,380 / year Social Transfer – $360 / year Cost – $50 (labour for fencing)

Total Annual Net Income

$1,690

Income per capita per day

$0.66 *based on seven people live in the house

Crop Yields

Maize – 700 bundles (dried ones – 20 pieces per bundle)

Self-Sufficiency in crops (list each)

Maize, pumpkin and black beans: Yes *Most of the time*

If not self-sufficient, how much of those crops are they purchasing Main Markets Sold Household Expenses

School fees for children: $50 annually Household expenses: $960 annually

Total Annual Household Expenses

$1010

Expenditure per capita per day

$0.40

164 | Market Development Facility

Code

PPI Score

Overview and Impressions The family lives in a small house; the head of the family works as a cleaner to support the household and does not have any other sources of income. He also takes care of his sick grandmother, who is staying with them (she also gets social transfers worth $180 but most of it goes on medication). Currently, the family is planting maize, pumpkin and black bean but this is mostly for household consumption. The farmer mentioned that there are no buyer for those crops as everyone plants the same crops. The head of the family is now planning to grow long beans for sale to help increase the family income. The head of the family is a young person and if he gets advice on improved cultivation techniques (use of hybrid seeds, right fertilizer application and use of chemicals to control pest and disease) then he could possibly do well with vegetable production and earn more for his family. It should also be noted that he works full time i.e. six days a week, so he would need to plant a high-value crop, which would earn him good money over 0.5 ha of land, and would not require too much of his time *Having a buying agent may help to increase his family income* Household Details  

   

The head of the household is 29 years old and stopped schooling at the last grade of primary school. His wife, 24 years old, also stopped going to school at last grade of primary school. The household comprise of seven family members living together in the same house. The eldest son (7) attends school, second child, a daughter (6), also goes to school and two other sons (4 year old and 21 days respectively). There is one elderly (70+) living in the house, who never went to school. The house is made of bamboo with a zinc roof and earth floors. The family does not own a television, radio tape player / CD nor any clothes cupboards. They own 0.5 ha of land for crops, which is used for maize, pumpkin and black bean cultivation. The husband also works as a cleaner to support the family.

Aspirations for Children The parents want their children to get educated and go as far as they can to get a better job in the future. Sources of Income 

 

The elderly does receive social transfers i.e. $180 every six month. They do not receive any donations, charity or scholarships, nor do they receive remittances or money from other family members. The husband works as a cleaner at Batugade border and earn $115 / month. The wife also has worked on some handicrafts and sold $40 worth of crafts in one month but this is not a regular activity (so is excluded from regular income above).

Farming Activities and Income  

He has approximately 0.5 ha of total land, all of which is lowland. He grows maize on 0.5 ha once a year in November (harvest in May).

Market Development Facility | 165

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Maize Harvest: He gets 700 bundles (20 pcs / bundle). Due to storage issue they just hang those bundles on kitchen and house roof. He keeps 20 bundles for seeds, about 100–200 bundles for animal feed, 10 bundles as gifts in case there is any occasion and the rest are for household consumption. He also grows pumpkin and black beans on the same land. He gets four bags (30 kg) of pumpkin per harvest, out of which two bags are kept for household consumption and two bags for animal feed. In the case of black beans, he gets two bags of 30 kg per harvest (after cleaning), all of which is kept for household consumptions and very little is retained for seeds. He says that he plants those crops mainly for household consumption as everyone plants the same crops, no one will buy. He follows traditional cultivation practices as fertiliser or chemical are not available in the market. However, he knows the benefits of using fertiliser / chemical in increasing yield but does not know how to use / apply it. He does most of the work on the farm (clearing, land preparation, planting, and weeding) with help from his father and brothers. His wife helps during the planting and harvesting period. Her main role is to look after the children and do the cooking. He also rears pig and chicken and sell if they need money. They do get information on maize cultivation techniques and also gets free seeds from MAF but no information on fertilizer / chemical is given to them.

Self Sufficiency and Expenses  



Cultivation is primarily done by this family for own consumption but if yields are lower than expected and the harvest is not good they sell pigs and chickens. In total, he spends around $80 per month on day-to-day expenses that includes purchasing cooking oil, sugar etc. for household supplies. Other expenses include buying school books, uniforms etc. which cost about $50 per year. The family does not budget or plan their spending or income, and the spending is done as need arises.

Opportunities 



The farmer’s land is located very far from the main road, thus it gets really difficult for him to pursue MAF to help him with a hand tractor. MAF staff prefer to work on lands which are closer to the main road as they can easily get there by car. He also plans to grow long bean next year to sell in the market to get more income for the family.

Market Access  

Their house is on the main road and is less than 30 minutes’ drive from the Balibo border. In terms of assets, the family does not own any farm equipment but they own a motorbike and an electric kettle.

Section on Gender Interview of the male household member The wife was not present during the interview, however, gender relevant questions were also asked to the male member of the household and the responses are as follows:

166 | Market Development Facility

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His activities include cooking, taking care of the children when wife is ill or busy with the baby. He also helps collect firewood once a week. According to him, the main role of women is cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children at home. He says, she decides what she does with her time but she always consults him if she wants to go somewhere. They both decide on farm items / tools, livestock purchase, school fees, health, motorbike purchase, social obligation and church donation. The husband is responsible for taking decisions on land purchases, whereas the wife decides on food purchases. He says, they will all benefit when there is an increase in income (food for the whole family is always the priority). He says, his wife also works in the field and her tasks include harvesting and planting. She also helps in raising livestock (feeding pigs and chicken). There are no tasks that women are forbidden to do on the farm but he does not allow his wife to do the heavy work (fencing and land preparation). He prefers that his wife stays at home and takes care of the children and helps him take care of the grandmother who is ill. He is also not aware of volunteer work for women in his area.

Market Development Facility | 167

Annex 2: Timor-Leste Progress out of Poverty Index Scorecard

168 | Market Development Facility

Market Development Facility | 169

170 | Market Development Facility

Market Development Facility | 171

172 | Market Development Facility