BUDGET POLITICS IN THE MODEL OF UTILIZATION OF VILLAGE FOOD SECURITY FUNDS

Resumo

Food security is a basic need for village communities that affects the welfare of farmers. In Wonosari Village, land floods, acidic peatlands, limited drainage, and weak post-harvest management have caused agricultural productivity to be suboptimal. Although there is an obligation to allocate at least 20% of the Village Fund for food security, its implementation is still more focused on the development of public infrastructure, which raises problems in the political dynamics of the budget and the management of food programs at the village level. This study aims to analyze budget politics in the model of the utilization of village food security funds using the perspective of Rational Choice Institutionalism and Network Institutionalism. The method used is a descriptive qualitative approach through interviews, observations, and documentation studies of key village actors. The results of the study show that budget decisions are dominated by village heads, with priority on road infrastructure development rather than direct food security programs. The participation of actors such as the PKK, Youth Organization, Farmer Women's Group, and Farmer Group is still limited, while the network between actors has not run optimally. The fund utilization model involves farmers, BUMDesma, and Rice Milling Plant (RMP), but still faces obstacles in technical aspects, regulations, human resource capacity, and post-harvest management, so that farmers tend to sell grain to parties outside the village. Thus, it is concluded that budget politics in Wonosari Village has not been effective in supporting food security due to the dominance of a single actor and the weak collaboration of village institutional networks.