<![CDATA[This study examines agricultural land-use change, socio-economic transformation, and food security implications in Aimas District, Sorong Regency, Indonesia. The study integrated GIS-based spatial analysis of land-cover data for 2014, 2019, and 2024 with a socio-economic survey of 210 households, complemented by direct field observation. Over the decade, the district lost 195 ha of shrubland, 154 ha of secondary mangrove forest, and 108 ha of swamp shrubland, while mixed dryland agriculture expanded from 1,646 ha to 1,806 ha and paddy fields and fishponds were recorded as separate classes for the first time in 2024, at 460 ha (2.43%) and 39 ha (0.21%), respectively. Survey evidence shows that 52.4% of respondents had converted agricultural land, overwhelmingly because farming was no longer profitable (81.4%). Conversion has accelerated a shift from agricultural livelihoods to informal employment among indigenous households, while migrants, who constitute 82.9% of respondents, dominate formal and non-agricultural sectors. Reading the spatial and household evidence together shows that what changed most decisively in Aimas was not the quantity of agricultural land but its distribution and the terms on which households hold it, producing socio-economic differentiation alongside a narrow and fragmented food-producing base. The findings indicate that protecting agricultural land in rapidly uwrbanising peri-urban districts depends less on land availability than on farm profitability, the recognition of customary rights, and the enforcement of spatial planning, and they support participatory land governance coordinated across the wider peri-urban zone.]]>
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