This study analyses, from a historical and social perspective, the economic diversification of the province of Jambi and the contemporary dynamics between the growth of coal mining and agricultural sustainability. The aim is to reconstruct the historical trajectory of the regional productive pillars—plantations and extraction—and assess their recent effects on land use, well-being and livelihoods. The critical historical method was applied with a synchronic and diachronic approach (topic selection, heuristics, source criticism, interpretation and historiography), using colonial and state archives, government reports and statistical series, as well as interviews with public policy actors. The results show that plantation agriculture has been the historical mainstay of Jambi since the colonial period and continues to be the main economic driver: rubber maintains the largest area, and palm oil leads production in 2020. Mining has consolidated its position as the second most important industry: oil exploration was institutionalized between 1895 and 1910, and coal mining has expanded significantly since the 1980s. In 2013, agriculture represented 25.63% vs mining 26.16%; since 2014, agriculture has been in the lead. Mining growth and agro-industrial expansion drove land use changes, conflicts over licences and land, dependence on logistics infrastructure and socio-ecological pressures. It is concluded that diversification has raised economic indicators and employment opportunities, but generates tensions between growth, energy security and environmental sustainability objectives; integrated management is required to protect agricultural land and food security, strengthen governance and environmental mitigation, and promote productive alternatives in the face of the global energy transition.
Baihaqi et al. (2026) studied this question.