An Opportunity to Improve Food Systems

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Farm workers walk past lines of sweet potato plants at a farmland in Dramaga, Bogor regency, West Java, on Thursday (24/9/2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness of the vulnerability of the country\'s food system, which still depends on imports. Food sovereignty can be achieved by focusing more on using the diverse local food sources.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The vulnerability of the country\'s food system is more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic and must be addressed through a number of improvements. Indonesia can obtain food sovereignty if it can optimize the diversity of local food sources according to the environmental and geographical conditions of the archipelago.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned of the threat of hunger triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Possibly as many as 132 million may go hungry in 2020 as a result of the economic recession triggered by COVID-19," FAO said in a statement to welcome World Food Day, celebrated every Oct. 16.

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According to FAO data, even before the pandemic, more than 2 billion people did not have regular access to enough safe, nutritious food. Nearly 700 million people go to bed hungry.

Even though the world now produces more than enough food to feed the people, the agri-food system is still unbalanced and unfair. Hunger still occurs, while at the same time obesity, environmental degradation, loss and waste of food and lack of security for food chain workers indicates that there are serious problems in the global diet.

With such a condition, the FAO marked this year’s World Food Day with the theme "Grow, Maintain, Preserve Together. Our Actions Are Our Future”. With this theme, the FAO invites all parties to improve the global food system and to ensure more resilient and stronger agriculture.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Farm workers collect rice during a harvest in Kaliwungu district, Kendal regency, Central Java, on Monday (12/10/2020).

At the national level, the food system has not shown any improvements either. "If you look at global parameters, such as the Global Food Security Index and Global Hunger Index, Indonesia is still in the middle to lower level. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is only better than the Philippines, Myanmar and Laos. It is far behind Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore,” Khudori, a food policy researcher and member of the Working Group of the Food Security Council, said in Jakarta on Friday (16/10/2020).

With the growing trend of food imports, according to Khudori, Indonesia has shown no improvement, if it is viewed from the aspect of food sovereignty. In fact, this pandemic shows the importance of self-sufficiency in food production. Dependence on imports will be dangerous if there is a prolonged crisis.

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According to Khudori, food self-sufficiency must also be supported by an improvement in the supply chain. "For three consecutive months there has been deflation in the country, contributed in part by livestock and horticulture, the prices of which have fallen. Many farmers don\'t harvest vegetables because the cost is higher than the selling prices,” he said.

The national coordinator of the People\'s Coalition for Sovereignty (KRKP), Said Abdullah, said that the pandemic had shown imbalances in the food supply. When the supply chain is disrupted, farmers and the poor become victims.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Teachers cook vegetables in a video posted on YouTube at SMP Lazuardi Kamila GCS junior high school in Banjarsari, Solo, Central Java, on Thursday (15/10/2020). Aside from commemorating World Food Day, the activity was also organized to teach students to consume healthy food.

"The price of horticultural commodities at the farm level has fallen 50 percent since last March," said Said.

Food diversity

Khudori reminded that food sovereignty in Indonesia could be achieved by returning to local food diversity. As a tropical country, which has a variety of environments and cultures, Indonesia cannot rely on a uniform diet. "The diversity of the food is not new at all. It, instead, shows its development is getting a setback," he said. The reason, said Khudori, was because there was no road map for achievement.

The development of a variety of food based on local farmers, he said, should be an option rather than policy such as those related to the development of large-scale food production with uniform crops.

Local food varieties can be developed optimally only if there are supporting policies. The development of a variety of food based on local farmers, he said, should be an option rather than policy such as those related to the development of large-scale food production with uniform crops.

Read also: Ensuring Farmers’ Welfare

Another step is that the government should be able to reduce dependence on imports of wheat by imposing a mandatory use of local ingredients, such as Mocaf flour, which is produced from fermented cassava and sago starch, ingredients that are in abundance.

Improving processing

Despite the abundance of food options, according to the project manager of the Peduli Pangan food movement, Dede Rina, Indonesia\'s local food wealth has not been processed optimally. Based on its experience in helping the people to get food supplies, the organization found that food processing could be optimized if the public processed one food ingredient into a variety of products.

"Our food is still processed as it is, for example boiled tubers," said Dede Rina.

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

Mad Saih, 40, a poultry farmer, gathers eggs at his farm in Pengasinan, Bogor, West Java, on Friday (16/10/2020).

According to the national director of the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS), Brigita Sidharta, World Food Day celebrations should become an opportunity to explore food materials. This could provide an opportunity for farmers to introduce polyculture or mixed cropping. This system could ensure the availability of various foods in a sustainable manner. (AIK/SKA/MTK)