COVID-19 Cases Soar High, Minister Teten's Men: The Threat Of Hunger In The World Increases By 82 Percent

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 pandemic that has spread for almost two years around the world is not certain when it will end. In fact, new variants of COVID-19 continue to emerge. This condition led to the emergence of the threat of hunger which increased to 82 percent.

Deputy for Cooperatives at the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs Ahmad Zabadi said based on data released by the world food and agriculture organization (FAO) as many as 270 million people worldwide are threatened with hunger amid the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, Ahmad said this was due to delays in the planting and harvesting processes. Including the inhibition of the food supply chain.

"There is a potential food security disturbance or a potential food crisis, namely disruption of the availability of labor, supply chain balance and trade restrictions", he said in a virtual discussion, Thursday, July 8.

Meanwhile, said Ahmad, a different condition actually occurred in Indonesia. In the midst of the outbreak of the pandemic and soaring cases of COVID-19 in the country, the agricultural sector actually grew positively by 15.46 percent.

According to Ahmad, this positive phenomenon must be used by the government to ensure food availability for its citizens during this difficult time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is certainly a good response to develop the existing potential from agriculture, animal husbandry, and fisheries as well as identification of superior commodities, availability of farmers, and improvement of human resources", he said.

However, said Ahmad, there are several obstacles faced by farmers in Indonesia. Among other things, welfare is still lacking, the minimum amount of land being cultivated, and the difficulty of getting access to capital.

Therefore, said Ahmad, the government should encourage farmer groups to form a forum that has a legal entity in the form of cooperatives. According to him, this can increase production and add value to the resulting product.

"Farmers must be consolidated lest they cultivate narrow land, it is better through cooperatives so that production can increase. Cooperatives will process harvests so that the bargaining position of farmers can be more balanced and it is hoped that buyers will not be manipulated", he explained.