This article analyzes the role of women in the village fund incentive policy in Indonesia, focusing on how fiscal stimulation for villages influences traditional gotong royong practices and leads to a transition toward procedural gotong royong. This shift not only alters community mindsets but also affects the status and involvement of women in village development. The study mixed an ethnographic approach with quantitative methods to examine the impact of village funds on socio-cultural values in five villages in Blora Regency, Central Java, mainly focusing on the role of women. This research is based on the social capital (SC) theory approach, where SC benefits individuals and communities involved in social interactions. Through this approach, the study aims to observe how the meaning of gotong royong has shifted for women in the village. The findings indicate that women play a crucial role in adapting global development schemes at the local level. In the planning and implementation processes of village development, women actively participate, contributing to procedural gotong royong mechanisms that align with national policies. Their participation strengthens their dual role, where women act not only as development agents but also as pillars in ensuring the implementation and accountability of village fund programs. The social value shift from domestic calculative orientation to public engagement occurs alongside the changing roles of women within the gotong royong system. Despite challenges, such as limited stimulation of women’s participation in this process, they continue to dynamically balance their domestic and public roles.

This study investigates the relationship between cultural compliance and late dry-season vegetation dynamics in Southwest Sumba, Indonesia, by analysing a decade of August Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data (2016–2025) and Cultural Compliance Scores (CCS) across three sites. Underpinned by lende ura, a local customary philosophy conceptualising the forest as a ‘rain bridge’ that sustains water availability, this cultural framework fosters community commitment to forest conservation. Empirically, this contrast is evident where Delo, actively practising this philosophy, maintained a high mean NDVI (0.90) with a markedly low Coefficient of Variation (CV: 1.96%), whereas Mangga Nippi and Lua Koba exhibited lower mean NDVI (0.58 and 0.66) and higher variability (CV: 26.54% and 11.06%), indicating biocultural divergence. Consequently, this erosion of traditional practices is associated with changes in vegetation and observed declines in hydrological functions, making water increasingly difficult to access and heightening economic vulnerability within an environmental poverty trap. These findings indicate that late dry-season vegetation stability in this dryland setting is closely associated with the strength of customary governance, suggesting that traditional institutions may complement the formal conservation of natural habitats. By pairing a CCS with a decade of NDVI variability, this study provides a replicable framework and testable hypotheses for examining biocultural dynamics in comparable seasonally dry tropical landscapes.

The rainfed paddy farming system faces profound vulnerabilities due to daily climate non-stationarity. This mixed-methods study in Central Java analyses daily climate signals, total rice production, and household adaptation over 25 years (2001–2025). Moving beyond simple correlation, a Principal Component Regression model integrating five climate variables and three agronomic confounders reveals a profound climate–production decoupling. The composite climate index explains only 7.9% of total production variation, while non-climate factors account for 92.1%. Physical stability is maintained through asymmetric temporal scheduling and a distinct hierarchy of responses, employing active, planned adaptations alongside passive, reactive coping. However, quantitative household evaluation reveals this tonnage stability incurs severe hidden costs; the titip gabah post-harvest system maintains a high Yield Stability Index (0.93) but yields a negative Return on Storage (−7.15%), functioning as a risk-mitigation buffer rather than a profit-maximising tool. Furthermore, climate anomalies drive the progressive alienation of traditional ethnoclimatological knowledge, forcing a cognitive shift toward hybridised decision-making. To prevent passive coping from evolving into systemic maladaptation, we propose a stratified policy framework ranging from village-level knowledge integration and Subdistrict daily risk warnings to regency-level subsidies targeted at smallholders (<0.5 ha).