Social Innovation Among Ethnics in Cocoa Farming at Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

This study conducted in the Island of Sulawesi, precisely in the province of West and South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The purposes is to (i), determine the development  pattern of social innovation and in the government innovation in cocoa farming among ethnics of Javanese, Buginese and Mandar in the island of Sulawesi, (ii) explore the influencing factors that differentiated the development of social innovation in cocoa farming among ethnics of Javanese, Buginese, and Mandar in the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The result showed the development pattern of social innovation in Mandar and Buginese ethnic relatively similar, which rely on innovation that based on the local resources and tend to adopt external innovation. While Javanese ethnic learnt from their experiences (internal innovation). This pattern of innovation mostly adopted by farmers with land under one hectare. However, cocoa farmers with land more than one and two hectares showed the same pattern among ethnic of Buginese, Mandar and Javanese. Factors that influenced development of innovation in each ethnic depicted in level of productivity.  Buginese cocoa farmers tend to expand their land to increase productivity, Mandar famers tend to utilize local resources and Javanese farmers more focus on intensification of innovation in order to increase productivity. Generally, Buginese and Mandar farmers not accustomed to working in groups, on the contrary Javanese farmers are more productive with group innovation.

Keywords: Innovation, Social, ethnic and cocoa.