DPR Asks The Government To Prepare A Strategy To Face The Food Crisis That Makes Prices Of Staples Soar

JAKARTA - The House of Representatives has asked the Government to immediately take concrete steps in dealing with the threat of a world food crisis. Because if it is not anticipated, the world food crisis will affect the welfare of the people.

"The high prices of basic commodities are caused by food commodities that are increasingly scarce. We must immediately take real steps to deal with the threat of a food crisis that has become a concern for a number of countries," said Member of Commission IV of the DPR RI, Daniel Johan, Friday, June 3.

Daniel said warnings of the threat of a food crisis had also been issued by The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) or the World Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations. Various global problems participate in the threat of a food crisis.

"There needs to be an increase in food production through programs that are effective and quickly provide results so that Indonesia is ready to face the food crisis," he said.

As is known, the prices of a number of commodities have increased, ranging from eggs, chilies, and tomatoes. Chicken eggs, which were previously sold for Rp. 35 thousand per shelf, have increased to Rp. 48 thousand per shelf.

Meanwhile, the price of cayenne pepper rose to Rp. 35 thousand/kg from the previous Rp. 25 thousand/kg. Then the tomatoes, which are sold for Rp. 8 thousand/kg, rose to Rp. 12/kg. Not to mention the emergence of cases of foot and mouth disease (FMD) made the stock of livestock meat decline in the market so that the price soared.

"The lack of supply from breeders and farmers is the cause and this must be addressed immediately," said Daniel.

The surge in commodity prices also occurred due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. A number of countries have stopped the tap of global food exports such as wheat and soybeans, thereby affecting the price of their derivative products, such as wheat flour.

The global food commodity, which was affected by the effects of the wars between Russia and Ukraine, pushed up inflation because it affected the industrial sector, including instant dry noodles. Daniel is worried that the global food crisis will severely hit the Indonesian food industry.

"Including the price of tempe considering we still rely on soybean imports. If it continues to increase, the prices of its derivative industries will also be affected," he said.

For this reason, Daniel encourages the government to prepare strategic steps so that the impact of rising food prices at the global level does not put too much pressure on conditions in the country. The DPR RI through its budget function also supports efforts to mitigate global risks through the addition of subsidy allocations in 2022.

"There must be an emergency or anticipation plan formulated and carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture to deal with the world food crisis, which is becoming more and more real today, so that when it happens, Indonesia will not be overwhelmed," said Daniel.

"Because of the fact that our food sovereignty has not been realized. So we have to anticipate food shortages well," he continued.

Daniel has repeatedly expressed his anxiety regarding the threat of a food crisis to the Government. Even during a working meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, he provided a number of inputs regarding the efforts that the Government could take to anticipate the food crisis in Indonesia.

“I think there are 2 things we might do. The first is the program to utilize vacant lands to increase food production, it becomes very important, “said Daniel.

The legislator from the West Kalimantan I Dapil also encouraged the Central Government to improve coordination with the Regional Government and other stakeholders. According to Daniel, this needs to be done so that the local government has a budget to prepare food reserves at the lower level.

"I hope that this input will be brought to the cabinet meeting, considering the world situation is dragging on," he said.

In addition, Commission IV of the House of Representatives in charge of food affairs continues to remind the Government that social protection programs are immediately realized.

"This is a safety net for the poor and vulnerable groups of the poor so they are not too affected," said Daniel.

On the other hand, Daniel also supports the food diversification policy that is being promoted by President Joko Widodo through planting sorghum. Daniel said food diversification would be one solution so that Indonesia would not only depend on strategic food commodities such as rice.

"We also no longer need to depend on imported wheat and corn. However, the food diversification program must be accompanied by broad socialization so that the community is ready when experiencing changes in food culture," he concluded.