Prior to Suharto's "New Order" administration, the Torajan economy was based on agriculture, with cultivated
wet rice in terraced fields on mountain slopes, and supplemental cassava and
maize crops. Much time and energy were devoted to raising water buffalo, pigs,
and chickens, primarily for ceremonial sacrifices and consumption. The only
agricultural industry in Toraja was a Japanese coffee
factory, Kopi Toraja.
With the commencement of the New Order in 1965, Indonesia's economy
developed and opened to foreign investment. Multinational oil and mining
companies opened new operations in Indonesia. Torajans,
particularly younger ones, relocated to work for the foreign companies to
Kalimantan for timber and oil, to Papua for mining, and to the cities of
Sulawesi and Java. The out-migration of Torajans was
steady until 1985. The Torajan economy gradually
shifted to tourism beginning in 1984. Between 1984 and 1997, many Torajans obtained their incomes from tourism, working in
hotels, as tour guides, or selling souvenirs. With the rise of political and
economic instability in Indonesia in the late 1990s including religious
conflicts elsewhere on Sulawesi—tourism in Tana Toraja has declined dramatically. Toraja
continues to be a well known origin for Indonesian coffee. This Arabica coffee
is primarily grown by small-holders.
source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toraja
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