Bugis - Economy



Subsistence and Commercial Activities. South Sulawesi serves as the rice bowl for eastern Indonesia, and its wet-rice plains form the heartland of the Bugis. Government rice-intensification programs have converted farmers to miracle rice varieties in almost all areas, with heavy inputs of fertilizer and pesticides. Mechanization has been more sporadic, with some farmers still using water buffalo and oxen to plow and harrow their fields, while others resort to minitractors. Besides large livestock, most households keep chickens; young boys herd ducks as an ancillary occupation. The sickle has replaced the finger knife ( ani-ani ) for harvesting all but ritually important glutinous rice varieties. Although groups of relatives and friends still gather to harvest communally in some areas, harvesting is increasingly being performed by itinerant bands of landless Makassarese, as well as Mandarese and migrant Javanese. The latter two groups are also hired as planting teams. Coastal Bugis also work as fishermen in boats plying the Strait of Makassar and Gulf of Bone, as well as engaging in pond-fish cultivation. Bugis outside the homeland are known for opening wet-rice fields, but have also developed stands of coconut palms, clove trees, pepper plants, and other cash crops.

Industrial Arts. Tailors, mechanics, and other specialists sometimes reside and practice in villages, but more often are clustered in towns and cities. Bugis women are expected to be proficient at weaving silk sarongs, which is carried on as a cottage industry. Chinese perform many commercial and industrial roles in the cities, and make the intricate filigree silverwork for which the area is known.

Trade. Bugis are famed as traders throughout the archipelago and successfully continue to transport cargoes of bicycle tires, wood, household accessories, and other goods in small ships of traditional design (e.g., pinisi and paduwakang ), though now motorized. In many remote interior areas, from Sulawesi itself to Irian Jaya, Bugis run the only village kiosks. As itinerant peddlers, Bugis also sell cloth, costume jewelry, and other goods. Although Chinese control distribution of more capital-intensive goods such as electronics in city shops, Bugis are the major vendors of fish, rice, cloth, and small goods in the stalls of urban and rural markets. Women are often the vendors of such goods, especially foodstuffs, in rotating rural markets.

Division of Labor. Men perform most stages of work in the rice fields, but harvesting teams are composed of both sexes. Women and children sometimes perform minor tasks in fields, such as protecting against birds. Besides domestic tasks such as cooking and child care, women also are expected to weave silk sarongs for sale. Many Bugis women serve as vendors of foodstuffs and other goods in markets, and have control over the income derived from their own sales. Women, often divorcées, may also be itinerant peddlers.

Land Tenure. Although smallholder plots of less than 1 hectare are still found in areas of intensified rice cultivation, modernization has resulted in increasing landlessness. Many farmers resort to sharecropping ( téseng ) arrangements allowing them to keep a portion of the harvest, with better lands (e.g., with technical irrigation) yielding a higher proportion to the landowner. Such arrangements continue the tradition of landed nobles granting the use of fields to their followers. Landlessness has resulted in increased circular migration to cities and out-migration to wilderness areas outside South Sulawesi, where fields can be opened.


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