Distribution Of Social Assistance And SPHP Temporarily Stopped, When Will It Continue?

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The government has decided to temporarily stop the distribution of social assistance (bansos) in the form of rice food assistance and food supply and price stabilization programs (SPHP) during the main harvest period which is estimated to last until April 2025.

Head of the National Food Agency (NFA) Arief Prasetyo Adi said this termination was only temporary until the main harvest was over.

"So the temporary rice and SPHP food assistance is held during the main harvest. Based on the last coordination meeting, we will hold food assistance and SPHP until the harvest is complete, the possibility of the harvest is until April. Our goal is that the optimal price of farmers' unhulled rice is absorbed at IDR 6,500 per kilogram," he said in Jakarta, written Thursday, February 6.

Arief said this temporary suspension needs to be implemented so that prices at the farmer level are maintained during the increasing rice harvest period.

Furthermore, Arief said that when Indonesia experiences a famine period, the expansion intervention program will be disbursed again.

"Let's not continue to pour it, later the price of unhulled rice will go down during the main harvest. If for example there is a lot of harvest, then the price will definitely be corrected, but we want it not to be too low in farmers. So when it comes to drought, we will disburse it again. When it is disbursed, of course, the price of rice can be more controlled," explained Arief.

Citing data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the average price of Panen Dry Grain (GKP) at the farmer level throughout 2024 occurred in April at a price of IDR 5,686 per kilogram (kg). Meanwhile, the average price of medium rice during 2024 was at its lowest point in May at a price of IDR 12,071 per kg.

For your information, April and May are the peak of the rice harvest in 2024. According to BPS, rice production in April 2024 is at 5.38 million tons and in May 2024 at 3.71 million tons.

Arief said referring to this historical period, the government currently wants to better maintain the quality of farmers' prices during the harvest season. He also encouraged Perum Bulog to focus on absorbing domestic crops so that dependence on imports could be reduced.

This step is also so that Bulog can focus on absorption because we want to absorb up to 3 million tons of rice equivalent. But also not because of budget problems. Instead, the budget is used to focus on absorbing the main harvest this year. We must encourage domestic production so that our import dependence will decrease," said Arief.