The northern Sumatran province of Aceh, Indonesia, hit global headlines in 2004 when it bore the brunt of the 2004 Asian tsunami. The disaster resulted in over 180,000 fatalities and IDR45 trillion (est USD32 billion) in damages as two-thirds of the province’s infrastructure was destroyed.
One of the worst affected coastal villages is Alue Naga in Banda Aceh, which lost 80% of its fisherfolk population and large tracts of land to the sea. Of the 6,331 villagers , only 1,270 survived, most still suffering the long term impact of the tsunami fourteen years on. Women villagers feel the impact disproportionately as the loss of mangrove forests along the estuary also wiped out their main source of income as oyster pickers.
Today, an estimated 90% of Alue Naga households earn between IDR100,000-150,000 per week (under USD10), putting them in the ‘poor’ category of development measures.