Smallholders are a significant part of the Indonesian economy with about one third of the working population employed in the agricultural sector (BPS-Statistics Indonesia 2013). In 2014, Indonesia was ranked third in the world after China and India in terms of the number of agricultural holdings in the country. However, Indonesia is ranked nineteenth in the world in terms of agricultural land area, with a total area of 485,000 km2 (FAO, 2016). These statistics illustrate the discrepancy between the limited amount of farming land and the high number of agricultural holdings in the country. This suggests two things: first, that a significant number of landholdings in Indonesia are small in size and second, that the Indonesian agricultural landscape is largely characterized by smallholders.

There is an extensive record of research on smallholders in Indonesia. Some work on the agricultural economy of smallholders conducted between the late colonial era and the beginning of Indonesia's independence still provokes discussion and continues to contribute to the advancement of knowledge amongst contemporary scholars. Many papers from this period highlight the pessimistic conditions of agriculture in Indonesia (Booth 1989; Geertz 1963; Boeke 1953). Boeke discusses social dualism in the country through a comparison of the colonial capitalistic system and the indigenous pre-capitalistic agrarian community. Additionally, Geertz illustrates the process of agricultural involution, particularly in Java, through which an increase in agricultural productivity and output did not lead to an increase per capita output. Among the scholarly works are some critical voices such as those of Gordon (1992) and White (1983).