Central Java smallholders: transformation and persistence through ICT development

Information communication and technology development nowadays becomes an issue in developing countries, especially Indonesia. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) that became spearheading in the digital era is still not able to meet the needs of peoples in rural areas. This happens when there is lack of digital infrastructure between urban areas and rural areas, where ICT development is still concentrated in urban areas (city area). Agriculture has been being an important main activity in rural areas which are not yet optimized due to the digital divide. One of the drivers of the lack of digital infrastructure in rural development of the market needs to be seen from the ICT, infrastructures, and capacity of smallholders. The smallholders represent the farming activities in the current time of agriculture in Indonesia. It is essential to understand the smallholder’s phenomena and its transformation of ICT for agriculture development. The aim of the research is to identify the transformation and persistence of smallholders in Central Java Province with ICT development. This research was conducted using a qualitative approach to identify the characteristics of smallholders, the availability of ICT infrastructure, the potential for ICT development and the sustainable development of rural areas in the study area. Research using primary data was collected using interviews based on a questionnaire distributed in three regency’s in Central Java, namely: Grobogan Regency, Semarang Regency, and Demak Regency. The results of this study show that smallholders in two villages in the two study areas that have the lack of digital infrastructure challenge can persist in developing their agricultural products. The institutional transformation factor is the key to fill the needs of technological infrastructure, while smallholders in the other village are still individual and traditional.