Jokowi Gives A Signal That The Rice Food Assistance Program Will Be Extended, June Will Be Announced

President Joko Widodo. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) gave a signal regarding the sustainability of the rice food aid program.

He admitted that he would announce it in June.

For your information, the rice food assistance program itself has entered its second phase in 2024.

As for this program, the assistance provided is in the form of 10 kilograms (kg) of rice per head of family (KK).

Furthermore, Jokowi said, he would first look at the fiscal condition of the state budget (APBN) before deciding to continue the program.

"So later I will see what is called the APBN budget fiscal. Later in June I will announce it, but it looks like it can be continued. Ladies and gentlemen pray together," he said in an official statement, Friday, May 31.

The former governor of DKI Jakarta said that if the budget is available, it is possible that this rice food aid program can be continued until December 2024.

"Later, the decision will be seen later this June. (For example) oh there is a budget, (it can) continue until December," he explained.

Jokowi then asked the beneficiaries of the aid program in Lubuklingau, South Sumatra regarding the condition of the rice distributed.

"There are complaints about the rice? In my opinion, the rice is better than what I eat. That's the rice we share (quality) premium. If there are complaints, please (state) that someone is taking care of what is called Bulog," he said.

Meanwhile, Head of NFA Arief Prasetyo Adi stated that Bulog's stock of Government Rice Reserves (CBP) until May 28 was recorded at up to 1.8 million tons.

Arief believes that the total stock will continue to grow, because Bulog consistently absorbs domestic rice yields.

"We understand that we continue to run this rice food aid program and come from CBP stocks. For this reason, strengthening CBP stocks when domestic production is our main concern. This is because we want in the future when a dry season hits or a global food condition occurs, we are able to overcome it with the distribution of CBP to help the community through various programs," explained Arief.

According to the Global Report On Food Crisis 2024 compiled by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) and Global Network Against Food Crisis, extreme weather is one of the main causes of high level acute food vulnerability for at least 18 countries with more than 72 million inhabitants.

This number increased compared to 2022, which at that time consisted of 12 countries with 56.8 million people affected by acute food risk.

El Nino also mentioned and the climate change weather phenomenon has made 2023 the hottest year ever recorded.

In this 2024 projection, flooding and extreme weather due to the winds of musons and hurricanes are still a concern, especially in the Asian region.

Therefore, Arief admitted that he would continue to monitor and ensure that CBP's stock was in good condition.

Per hari ini sudah mencapai 1,8 juta ton dan ini akan terus bertambah.

"The estimated rice harvest according to the KSA (BPS Sample Framework) (Central Statistics Agency) until May, there is still a surplus of rice monthly consumption. So this is indeed the time for CBP to continue to be added, so that later during the dry season, the government will be free to distribute it in helping the community," he said.

Looking at the KSA BPS data from April 2024, rice production from January to July is projected to reach 18.74 million tons.

Of the total estimated, there can be a production surplus of around 650,000 tons of consumption.

In April 2024, the estimated rice production will be at 5.31 million tons.

Then in May 2024, production is estimated to be up to 3.58 million tons, and in June 2024 at 2.01 million tons and in July 2024 at 2.15 million tons.

Meanwhile, the realization of domestically produced rice absorption by Perum Bulog until May 26, has touched a total of 601,000 tons.

This consists of procurement for CBP 517 thousand tons and commercial rice 83,000 tons.

As a comparison, the realization of domestic rice procurement by Bulog in 2023 the total for a year is at 1.066 million tons.