STRATEGI KELANGSUNGAN HIDUP PETANI MISKIN Survival Strategy for Poor Farmers in Dry Land Farming

Poverty, illiteracy, and backwardness are a reality that becomes one of the big problems faced by most developing countries in the world including Indonesia. They spread out in many poor areas. DIY, among the provinces, still has poor villages (37,6%). Conducted in some villages of dry land, the objective of the research is to describe, and discuss a strategy developed by poor farmer families to get money to survive.The research was held in Girirejo, lmogin Bantul Yogyakarta that still had 486 poor and very poor families. Fifty of them were chosen as the samples. The data were taken through observation, interviews and literary studies.The conclusions are: First, though the agricultural sector is considered as the main buffer sector but the fact shows that off farm rural employment contribute additional income. As the result of deversification, combining the two sectors is a creative early choice to earn moneysecond, the poor families in some ways have relatively the same economical social condition but it becomes different when the writer classifies them into three categoriespoor farmers that can stand by themselves, productive farmers and very poor farmers. This classification is relevant when it is found that there are different strategies developed by the farmers to eliminate their financial difficultiesthird, in viewing the phenomenon of poor farmer families it seemes that the rate of income is not the main determinant to understand this groups. It is clear that poor farmer families with their limits still have the potency that be developed by a strategy to survive. Key words: survival strategy â poor farmers - dry land farming