Keep Food Security, Government Together With Increasing Production By Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Secretary of Balitbangtan Haris Syahbuddin. (Photo: Doc. Antara/Balitbangtan)

JAKARTA - The Agricultural Research and Development Agency (Balitbangtan) of the Ministry of Agriculture explained a number of strategies carried out by the Indonesian government in maintaining national food security at the 2022 Asian Grow Forum.

Secretary of Balitbangtan Haris Syahbuddin explained that climate change and the issue of global warming continue to be a serious concern in Indonesia. The challenge facing farmers is how to maintain production and productivity levels during uncertain climate change.

"The government has made efforts to handle various treatments to increase production, and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Haris in his statement quoted by Antara, Sunday, October 23.

The Ministry of Agriculture, he continued, prioritizes adaptation to the agricultural sector and makes its co-benefits part of mitigation measures.

To that end, the government presents various related policies and strategies, such as providing environmentally friendly technology, climate information systems, and agricultural financing and insurance support.

Haris said this when he was one of Indonesia's representatives in a sharing session themed Accelerating Climate Finance to Achieve Food Security in Southeast Asia at the Asian Grow Forum which was held in Singapore, last Tuesday, October 18.

This forum is implemented to explore collaborative solutions in facing the challenges of the food system in Southeast Asia.

As one of Indonesia's representatives in the forum, Haris also invited the private sector and financing institutions to help maintain the growth of the agricultural sector which benefits all parties.

"This can be driven by strengthening capital and the value chain of agricultural commodities, especially in the Southeast Asia region," he said.

Head of Balitbangtan Fadjry Djufry added that in responding to these challenges, one of the answers was the use of technological innovation.

In fact, Indonesia has succeeded in obtaining awards from international institutions for its success in maintaining agricultural productivity through technological innovation.

"With the presence of a technological innovation system in maintaining agricultural production levels, IRRI gives awards to Indonesia for its success in maintaining food production stability in the pandemic era and climate change," he said.

In addition to representatives from Indonesia, the 2022 Asian Grow Forum was attended by more than 130 participants from Southeast Asian countries, including the government, business people, financing institutions, the community, and academics.

The solution to the forum is integrated as input for the B20 Summit which will be held in Indonesia as a series of G20 high-level meetings.