Moeldoko Reminds Indonesia Not To Experience A Food Crisis

Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Moeldoko. (Between)

JAKARTA - Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Moeldoko warned that Indonesia should not experience a food crisis. He also asked all elements of society to start preparing.

This was conveyed by Moeldoko when opening a discussion with hundreds of stakeholders engaged in the food sector, in the KSP Hearing program which was held online, Monday, August 1st.

“Nineteen million people in the world are malnourished. Three hundred and ninety-four million people globally are facing difficulties in the food sector. What do we do with this situation? This is what we have to find a solution for,” said Moeldoko.

Moeldoko said preventing a food crisis could be by increasing productivity in the agricultural sector and diversifying food.

Moeldoko said, currently the availability of domestic food is still very good. In the last three years, he said, productivity in the agricultural sector, especially rice, has experienced a surplus. So that national consumption needs are met.

However, he continued, this achievement should not let Indonesia off guard. Moreover, the world situation continues to change very quickly. Such as climate change and weather and global geopolitical conditions.

“Climate and weather changes can cause crop failure. Global geopolitical changes can make food commodity producing countries stop their exports, and cause an increase in energy prices so that there is a conversion from food to energy because of the need for capital, "explained Moeldoko.

Moeldoko, who is also the General Chair of HKTI, said that Indonesia still benefits from climate and weather conditions. Where, the La Nina phenomenon or the current high rainfall phenomenon, has a positive impact on the agricultural sector, namely there is no crop failure.

But on the other hand, he said, Indonesia was also affected by global geopolitics. Such as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and political problems in Belarus.

“The Russo-Ukrainian conflict prevented us from importing wheat. Even though our needs are 30 percent. Political problems in Belarus have forced us to import fertilizers from other countries at higher prices. Not to mention the increase in world oil prices which made the situation even more difficult. This is a challenge and we must find a solution,” said Moeldoko.

Facing these conditions, Moeldoko emphasized that the government has worked hard to anticipate the occurrence of a food crisis due to climate change and global geopolitics.

Like. he continued, diversifying food, optimizing subsidized fertilizers so that they are right on target, as well as political budget policies for the extensification of agricultural lands.

“For food diversification, I have started planting sorghum in NTT. And it turns out that in dry conditions, sorghum can thrive. So, we need to look for new food alternatives to replace rice,” said Moeldoko.

On that occasion, Moeldoko also heard a lot and accommodated the aspirations of stakeholders regarding efforts to increase food productivity. Such as the ease of licensing the development of new seed varieties, resolving conflicts over agricultural and plantation lands, as well as optimizing the Village Unit Cooperative (KUD) to overcome the game of middlemen.

“We hope that the government will preserve the KUD in order to achieve the welfare of farmers. So far, farmers mostly sell their crops to middlemen, even though the prices are low,” said Nanang Bona, a farmer from Yogyakarta.

For information, KSP Hearing is a program of the Presidential Staff Office to capture public aspirations related to the implementation of government programs and strategic issues.

This is in accordance with the duties of the Presidential Staff Office, which is to provide support to the President and Vice President in controlling national priority programs, political communication, and managing strategic issues.