Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Towards the end of year 2000, a group of researchers from the Social Monitoring and Early Response Unit (SMERU) Research Institute in Jakarta conducted a study of small-scale rural credit in a number of villages traditionally associated with wet-rice cultivation in the Cirebon area of West Java.
Welcome to the first edition of SMERU's regular monthly newsletter. Why a newsletter? Because we believe that having information spread and discussed as widely as possible is a central part of creating the social conditions for addressing the social crisis.
As the economic crisis continues, the capacity of many Indonesians to provide for the basic necessities of life - food, clothing, and shelter - has been thrown even further into doubt.
All indications are that the economic crisis in Indonesia, especially in the formal sector, will not be over in the near future. After a contraction in the economy of approximately 14% in 1998, predictions are that the Indonesian economy would either experience no growth or would continue to decline in 1999, at a rate of up to 3%.
