Socio-technical analysis of natural rubber plantation in North Sumatera: possibilities for sustaining supply

Natural rubber is an important commodity for countries in South East Asia region such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Economic in these countries are supported by exporting this commodity. Many citizens of these countries depend their life on income from a natural rubber plantation. Moreover, natural rubber is a key material to produce important products such as tire, health and sports equipment. For this reason, it is necessary to sustain the supply from natural rubber plantation. To sustain the supply, technical aspects such as cultivation techniques, replanting techniques, latex processing techniques and social aspects such as rubber smallholder behavior, supplier behavior need to maintain. This research conducts a socio-technical analysis of natural rubber plantation in North Sumatera. This research has an objective to investigate the ability of natural rubber plantation in North Sumatera to sustain the natural rubber supplies. A combination of socio-technical framework and SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) is used to analyze the existing condition of natural rubber plantation in North Sumatera. The result indicated that there were social, technical and external factors that reduce the ability to sustain the supply of natural rubber.