Badana Kasih Signals Food Aid Program Will Continue In 2025

Head of Badanas Arief Prasetyo Adi (photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The National Food Agency (Bapanas) has proposed an additional budget for food assistance in 2025 worth IDR 20.22 trillion. The funds will be used to distribute food assistance in the form of rice, chicken meat and eggs as well as food supply and price stabilization programs (SPHP).

Then, will food assistance be continued in 2025?

Head of Badanas Arief Prastyo Adi said that the food assistance program is an ecosystem of food to alleviate problems prone to food and malnutrition downstream and absorption of food SOEs upstream.

Moreover, continued Arief, there are still at least 68 regencies/cities whose status is vulnerable to food at this time.

"So we create a food ecosystem downstream that has a target for alleviation of food-prone, malnutrition, upstream SOEs are tasked with absorbing farmers, so one system. Don't be rich, Bulog is tasked with absorbing the taps downstream. There are still 68 Kabupeten/cities that are vulnerable to food. So this is to be continued," he said at the DPR Building, Parliament Complex, Monday, June 10.

On this basis, Arief said that food assistance was still needed to help the community, made up in food-prone areas.

With the food assistance program, Arief continued, at least 22 million beneficiary families (KPM) can meet their needs.

"Is it still necessary? Yes, it is necessary, as long as the number of 68 regencies/cities is still necessary. This is a poverty limit and the problem is not poor in food. That's why the Ministry of Human Development and Culture has a calculation. If there is one family, there are three, times 22, there are 66 million people, at least they can eat and that is rice," he explained.

Previously, the Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prastyo Adi proposed an additional budget of IDR 20.22 trillion for the food aid program next year.

Arief said the budget was used for several programs. First, for six months of rice assistance amounting to Rp. 16.68 trillion. Second, food assistance for chicken and eggs for six months amounting to Rp. 834.1 billion.

Then, continued Arief, the distribution of rice supply stabilization and food prices (SPHP) amounted to Rp1.5 trillion. Fourth, the distribution of SPHP corn amounting to Rp535 billion.

Furthermore, the distribution of SPHP soybeans amounted to Rp637.8 billion. Then, the distribution for natural disasters and emergency conditions for one year amounted to Rp37.9 billion.

"So the additional budget proposal for government food reserves or CPP distribution activities is IDR 20.22 trillion," said Arief in a joint hearing with Commission IV of the DPR, at the DPR Building, Parliament Complex, Monday, June 10.