Agricultural Extension, Farmer Motivation, and Maize Food Security in Indonesia-Timor Leste Borderlands
70
Authors
-
Musa Frengkianus Banunaek
State Agricultural Polytechnic of Kupang
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6058-7374
-
Siti Andarwati
Universitas Gadjah Mada
-
Sunarru Samsi Hariadi
Universitas Gadjah Mada
Keywords:
Agricultural Extension; Farmer Motivation; Food Security; Maize; Borderlands; Semi-Arid; Structural Equation Modeling; East Nusa TenggaraAbstract
Household food security in semi-arid borderland areas remains vulnerable to drought, limited market access, and weak livelihood assets. Although agricultural extension and farmer motivation have been studied in smallholder contexts, their joint role in explaining maize-based household food security in semi-arid borderland agriculture remains under examined. Drawing on an ERG-based motivation framework, this study tested whether agricultural extension and farmer motivation are positively associated with household food security. A cross-sectional survey of 244 maize-farming households was conducted in the Indonesia–Timor Leste borderlands of East Nusa Tenggara from February to August 2025. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling. The final model showed acceptable fit (GFI = 0.997; AGFI = 0.927; CFI = 0.999; TLI = 0.992; RMSEA = 0.050) and explained 55.0% of the variance in household food security. The findings show that agricultural extension and farmer motivation were both positively and significantly associated with household food security, indicating their complementary roles in strengthening maize-based household food security.
References
Aremu, T., Baye, R. S., Onyina, K., & Abijah, P. (2025). Agricultural extension services and household welfare: evidence from Ghana socioeconomic panel survey. Agricultural and Food Economics, 13(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-025-00400-7
BPS-Statistics Indonesia. (2025). Maize harvested area and production in Indonesia 2024. BPS-Statistics Indonesia. https://www.bps.go.id/en/publication/2025/08/15/2bb49a0af17ec89ac16971de/maize-harvested-area-and-production-in-indonesia-2024.html
Byrne, B. M. (2016). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming (3rd ed.). In Routledge. Routledge. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315757421
Coates, J., Swindale, A., & Bilinsky, P. (2007). Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) for measurement of household food access: Indicator guide. Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project, Academy for Educational Development., August, Version 3.
FAO. (2008). An introduction to the basic concepts of food security. https://www.fao.org/agrifood-economics/publications/detail/en/c/122386/
FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, & WFP and WHO. (2025). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 – Addressing high food price inflation for food security and nutrition. In Rome. FAO; IFAD; UNICEF; WFP; WHO; https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4060/cd6008en
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and statistics. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(3), 382–388. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800313
Gautam, P. K., & Jha, S. K. (2022). Food and nutrition security under different farm households in Bundelkhand. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 58(4), 15–18. https://doi.org/10.48165/ijee.2022.58403
Gibson, J. L., Ivancevich, J. M., Donnelly, J. H., & R Konopaske. (2012). Organization: Behavior, Structure, Processes (Paul Ducham (ed.); Paul Ducha). McGraw-Hill Companies. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=JsAKaAEACAAJ
Global Hunger Index. (2025). Concern Worldwide, Welthungerhilfe, and Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict. Global Hunger Index: Indonesia. https://www.globalhungerindex.org/indonesia.html
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., Sarstedt, M., Danks, N. P., & Ray, S. (2021). Mediation Analysis (pp. 139–153). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80519-7_7
Jayasingh, D. K., & Mishra, B. (2024). Factors influencing occupational diversification among farmers in Khordha district of Odisha. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 60(3), 37–41. https://doi.org/10.48165/IJEE.2024.60308
Kline, R. B. (2016). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. In Guilford Press. https://dl.icdst.org/pdfs/files4/befc0f8521c770249dd18726a917cf90.pdf
Nain M.S., Bhagat G.R., Kher S.K., Slathia P.S. & Ahmad N. (2007) Adoption of maize production technology in intermediate zone of Rajouri district of J&K, Journal of Research SKUAST Jammu,6 (1), 61-66.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Prasanna, V., Padhy, C., Kumar, A., & Reddy, I. C. (2024). Production and marketing practice of maize in north coastal Andhra Pradesh. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 60(4), 107–111. https://doi.org/10.48165/IJEE.2024.60419
Rejula K, Singh R., & Nain M.S. (2017). Rice farming for food security and ecological sustainability: An analysis of farmers’ awareness in Kerala. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 53(4), 101-106.
Salam, M., Jamil, M. H., Tenriawaru, A. N., Kamarulzaman, N. H., Syam, S. H., Rahmadanih, Ramadhani, A., Bidangan, A. M., Muslim, A. I., Bakheet Ali, H. N., & Ridwan, M. (2024). The effectiveness of agricultural extension in rice farming in Bantaeng Regency, Indonesia: Employing structural equation modeling in search for the effective ways in educating farmers. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 18(June), 101487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101487
Silaen, M., Yuwono, Y., Ismail, C., Ramadhani, A., & Takama, T. (2023). Vulnerability Assessment on Agriculture in East Nusa Tenggara (pp. 109–134). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28728-2_6
Swami, Deepika, & Parthasarathy, D. (2024). Role of intrinsic motivation and government policies in adoption of sustainable agriculture practices by farmers in Maharashtra, India. Farming System, 2(3), 100100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.farsys.2024.100100
Touch, V., Tan, D. K. Y., Cook, B. R., Liu, D. L., Cross, R., Tran, T. A., Utomo, A., Yous, S., Grunbuhel, C., & Cowie, A. (2024). Smallholder farmers’ challenges and opportunities: Implications for agricultural production, environment and food security. Journal of Environmental Management, 370, 122536. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122536
Wossen, T., Abdoulaye, T., Alene, A., Haile, M. G., Feleke, S., Olanrewaju, A., & Manyong, V. (2017). Impacts of extension access and cooperative membership on technology adoption and household welfare. Journal of Rural Studies, 54, 223–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.06.022
Submitted
Published
Data Availability Statement
The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Indian Society of Extension Education, Division of Agricultural ExtensionICAR- IARI, New Delhi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- The manuscripts once accepted and published in the Indian Journal of Extension Education will automatically become the property of the Indian Society of Extension Education, New Delhi. The Chief Editor on behalf of the Indian Journal of Extension Education holds the copyright.
How to Cite
