SQUATTING on a dead log, above a large pile of rocks, wearing shorts and a dull shirt, Salaudin was motionless for some minutes. He gazed silently at the denuded land before him. His village, in the Badar district in Southeast Aceh, was a depressing sight.

For the past two years, Salaudin had tried his luck in Lawe Mengkudu, a small village on the banks of the Alas river. On his hectare-sized plot, with limited capital available, he grew can