Deal #437

2009-01-01

GIZ field information

Japan ready to fund agriculture activities in Merauke

2009-01-01

The Japanese government, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), wishes to allocate US$250 million (around Rp2.42 trillion) as funding to build supporting facilities for the development of agricultural lands in Merauke, West Papua. This investment is a way to support the world food security program. Deputy to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy from the Agriculture and Maritime Affairs Division, Bayu Krisnamurthi, said that the investment is still under discussion. “The funds will be used to build an harbor too,” said Bayu in a press conference, last Friday (10/2). Although the schedule for the investment has not yet been decided, Japan announced its commitment in a Tokyo Seminar on Indonesia at the end of last month. The seminar decided two things. First, several companies like the Mitsubishi Corporation are interested in promoting Merauke as a new rice barn in Asia.

A Food Project Invasion in West Papua: Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE)

2011-03-08

West Papua Media Alerts

Merauke is the southern part of Papua, covered by swampy forest with many rivers flowing down, mixed with massive savannah. The ecosystem in this region is unique. According to WWF, Merauke is one of the important places in the New Guinea Trans Fly Eco-region with its abundant bio-diversity.

The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE): An Ecologically Induced Genocide of the Malind Anim

2019-10-31

The term “ecologically induced genocide” represents a “green” shift in the field of genocide studies that looks to demonstrate how ecological destruction can result in the genocide of a group who exhibit a cultural connection to the land they inhabit. Using a political economy of genocide developed by Crook, Short, and South, the contexts and processes that can lead to an ecologically induced genocide can be recognized. This paper looks to make use of this framework to better understand an under-researched case study, The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE), to show how it has resulted in a continuing ecologically induced genocide of the Indigenous Malind Anim. Drawing on the conceptual links between colonialism, capitalism, ecological destruction, and genocide, this paper analyses colonization and genocide in West Papua before demonstrating how MIFEE causes a contest for land between Indonesia and the Malind Anim. It then uses the political economy of genocide to show how it continues to cause an ecologically induced genocide of the Malind Anim through destroying their physical, cultural, and ecological relationship to the environment they live upon. It then concludes that MIFEE, as a manifestation of Indonesian colonization, also contributes to the broader genocide of the West Papuan people.