The Number of Agrarian Conflict Cases Increased in 2023

According to a report by the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), at least 241 agrarian conflicts occurred in Indonesia throughout 2023.

These conflicts involved an area of 638,200 hectares and affected 135,600 households.

The number of agrarian conflicts in 2023 increased compared to 2022, although the area affected decreased, as shown in the graph.

In the report received by the Katadata editorial team (January 15, 2024), the KPA stated, "The continuing increase in agrarian conflicts indicates that the implementation of the agrarian reform agenda, promised for approximately a decade, has not progressed."

The KPA noted that in 2023, many agrarian conflicts were related to the plantation sector (108 cases), property business (44 cases), mining (32 cases), and infrastructure projects (30 cases).

There were also conflicts related to the forestry sector (17 cases), coastal and small island areas (5 cases), and military facilities (5 cases).

The KPA obtained this data from several sources:

* Victims who reported agrarian conflicts to the KPA, either directly or through intermediaries;
* Reports from KPA members and networks;
* Field monitoring;
* Monitoring of mass media reports;
* A conflict database in the agrarian emergency rapid response system; and
* Results of field investigations.

With limited organizational resources, the data collected by the KPA may not represent all agrarian conflicts in Indonesia.

The KPA only recorded cases of "structural agrarian conflict," namely land conflicts caused by public officials' policies, resulting in the threat and/or deprivation of the constitutional rights of the community to agrarian resources.

This data does not include ordinary land disputes, such as inheritance disputes, land disputes between companies, and so on.