A lecturer from the Forestry Study Programme at Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar (Unismuh), currently pursuing doctoral research at the School of Geography, Faculty of Environment, University of Leeds, UK, appeared as a speaker on VOI Talk, a programme by Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) Voice of Indonesia. In the English-language dialogue broadcast on Wednesday (14/10/2026), entitled 'Mapping Maladaptation: When Climate Adaptation Goes Wrong in Indonesia's Uplands', he represented Indonesian students in the United Kingdom through the Indonesian Students' Association Worldwide (PPI Dunia/OISAA).
He presented his research findings on maladaptation—that is, climate adaptation efforts that actually make matters worse, whether for the communities themselves, for other regions, or for the environment.
Land-Use Change in the Upper Saddang Watershed
His research is located in the upper reaches of the Saddang Watershed (DAS) in South Sulawesi. This area is steep and surrounded by forest, and its farmers once grew rice, coffee, cocoa, candlenut, and mixed gardens or agroforestry. Today, most of that land has been converted to maize for animal feed. Farmers who once grew their own food now sell maize in order to buy food.
On steep slopes, maize leaves the soil exposed, making it prone to erosion and landslides. Its chemical fertiliser requirements are also far higher than those of cocoa. The impacts flow downstream: river sediment increases, river flow changes, and floods have begun to hit villages that had never flooded before.
A Structural Problem, Not Farmers' Fault
He stressed that this is not the farmers' fault, but a structural problem. Prolonged drought caused by El Niño made the old crops fail. At the same time, the food self-sufficiency programme launched in 2014 has distributed maize seed and fertiliser free of charge and repeatedly every season. By contrast, support for perennial crops and agroforestry is limited, provided only once, and must be obtained through a competitive proposal process.
According to him, this is becoming increasingly relevant amid predictions of a strong El Niño this year, because many families in the hills now face drought with fewer safety nets. Forests, which once served as the last source of food in times of scarcity, are now also being encroached upon by maize.
Recommendations and Scientific Publication
As a recommendation, he urged that agricultural assistance be tailored to local conditions. On steep slopes and around forests, support for trees and mixed gardens needs to be made easy and abundant, while maize assistance should be limited.
Some of his research findings have been published in the international journal Land Use Policy (Elsevier) under the title 'How institutional rule erosion shapes land use trajectories at forest margins in upland Indonesia'. The article was written with Jon C. Lovett, Victoria Houlden, and Steve Carver of the University of Leeds and can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2026.108193.
He is currently also developing a mapping tool based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify areas at high risk of maladaptation, as input for policymakers.
'What happens at the top of the mountains does not stop there. The impacts flow down to all of us,' he said.
The full dialogue can be watched on the VoI Official YouTube channel:
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