Poverty Alleviation through Zakat and Income Distribution on Agriculture of Local Commodity, Honey Pinneapple, in Pemalang Regency

Abstract

This research has an aim to study the comparation fron level of income distribution and
poverty index before and after the Zakat on agriculture applied in Beluk village,
Pemalang regency. Beluk village supply high quality local pinneaple fruits in Indonesia
and brought pinneaple to improve the income and alleviate the proverty of pinneaple
farmers. As common people know, zakat can distribute the income of Muslim equally.
Neverthless, Zakat as an instrument in Islamic able to alleviate the poverty. This research
use of purposive random sampling in order to get 100 people as sample size. The
respondents consist of honey pineapple local farmers who live in Desa Beluk and local
people of Desa Beluk as non-farmer. In order to know the level of inequality from income
distribution, the research measured Gini Index, Lorenz curve, and World Bank’s criteria
as the tool to gain the research objective. In order to know the level of poverty, this study
use FGT index to measure headcount ratio, poverty gap index, and poverty severity index
as the tool of analyzing. Through the system of income distribution as the legal principle
in Islamic economics, Zakat on agriculture decrease the level of inequality as Gini Index
0.45 and causes the income the distribution on Desa Beluk more equal after the Zakat of
agriculture enacted. To recognize the level of poverty in terms of proportion, depth and
severity of poverty, this study measured FGT index through head count ratio, poverty gap
index, and poverty severity index. It shows decreasing index after the zakat on agriculture
measured which proof Zakat on agriculture is directly reduce the poverty index. The head
count ratio is decrease 0.01, povery gap index decrease as 0.08 and poverty severity index
decrease as 0.298.
Keywords: Zakat on agricultural, Inequality, Distribution of Income, Poverty, Beluk village