流通革命下における伝統的な産地流通取引の変容―ジャワ島2村における野菜流通の事例

抄録

The rapid transformation of agricultural retail marketing in developing countries is having significant consequences on agricultural development. This phenomenon—known as the supermarket revolution—means the expansion of modern retail companies, e.g., convenience stores, supermarkets, and hypermarkets. These modern retail companies have established a new marketing system that can supply high quality commodities via arrangements with traditional producers and middlemen. At the same time, there is an urgent concern that agricultural productivity in this supermarket revolution may decrease because smallholders with poor technology systems may be forced to exit from the new marketing system, and ultimately from the current agricultural market.

However, there is insufficient empirical evidence to support a hypothesis regarding the supermarket revolution, i.e., the linear transformation of traditional marketing into the new marketing system arrangement with modern retail companies. For example, the traditional retail market where the smallholders mainly participate still exists, and in Indonesia, it has even expanded. The recent downstream market could have ripple effects on the traditional upstream market, and provide a different perspective from the above hypothesis. Thus, it is important to clarify the changes in the traditional upstream market even if we must rely on qualitative analysis. Although many related studies have been conducted, especially on agricultural development in rural society and the traditional norms that underpin this development, the need to clarify the consequences of the supermarket revolution on traditional rural marketing remains.

In this study, we investigate the transformation of the traditional upstream market, which may compete with the modern retail marketing channels, with a special focus on rural areas, and we discuss its future pathways. Based on results of a vegetable marketing field survey conducted in rural Java, Indonesia, we characterize the transformation as involving the following two elements. First, compared to the situation in the 1990s, the credit tie among traders that has long served to strengthen their relationship has almost disappeared. Second, the number of brokers has decreased, some of whom have become middlemen. These findings highlight the intense market competition among upstream middlemen. We observed the continued use of traditional standing crop contracts, known as Tebasan, by the middlemen. The traditional scheme for collecting fresh produce also seems to be competitive with those of the modern retail companies. Lastly, we consider how the traditional upstream market could survive under the pressure of modern retail company practices.