Distorted Livelihood in Indonesian Jepara Traditional Furniture Industry Woodcraft: Aspiring Sustainable Industry Upgrade with the Implications

Sustainable small and medium enterprise pathways of development in Asian countries are what many businesses in this region need to achieve. Small sustainable businesses efforts confronted challenges and difficulties, and firm upgrades may not always result in better sustainable practices. Since the year 2000, one Indonesian rural cluster of small furniture enterprises, "Jepara," has been suggested to adopt industry upgrade as part of long-term improvements. However, the upgrading effort is on mere survival than on sustainable practice pathways. A distinct significant phenomenon of Indonesian-Jepara traditional rural furniture industry cluster is their survival capability in modern business competition, while remarkably prospering in the global furniture market. Meanwhile, this industry cluster has remained largely unchanged with traditional methods of production. A qualitative phenomenology study had been conducted in the Jepara traditional furniture industry, located in the North Central Java province of Indonesia.The study aims to analyze livelihood problems and the implications.The study investigated a range of home-based furniture MSMEs (Micro and Small Medium Enterprises), along with business owners and workers involved (eighteen participants). Implications range from income insufficiencies to the loss of carved craftsmanship skills within. Jepara is renowned for carving cultural furniture industry heritage, along with thousands of livelihood-reliant people. Ultimately, Jepara furniture makers chose to operate informally and undertook a "low road" pathway of survival to support their legacy as Indonesian cultural furniture makers.