BALI - Organic farming takes root in post-bomb Bali

Inside Indonesia 91: Jan-Mar 2008

Since the second bombing in 2005, tourism numbers have slowly returned to something resembling pre-bomb levels. The memories have faded, the tourism fantasy has gradually reasserted itself, and a real post-tourism economy has yet to take shape. Some seeds of it have been sown though, mostly in the form of enterprises that feed off or into tourism in various ways: a shift from providing tourism facilities to longer-term expatriate and business accommodation, meeting and conference facilities, international hospitals and health centres. The smart operators, the big players, have quietly moved at least some of their investment out of tourism into real estate, or anything less vulnerable than tourism.
Earlier this decade it seemed rice-farming might die out altogether in Bali
At the same time, somewhat less spectacularly, the agriculture sector has begun to transform itself, from the production of rice and subsidiary crops for subsistence, to a growing emphasis on cash crops. While some of the problems of Balinese agriculture have been exacerbated by tourism-driven prosperity and cultural modernisation, tourism has also provided new opportunities for agriculture, including a growing range of niche markets for premium and healthy foods for hotels, restaurants and the expatriate community.

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