Jokowi: Be Careful, The Threat Of Climate Change Is Real, Food Crisis

Illustration-(Photo: DOK ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the food crisis that is currently hitting various countries in the world is a real impact of the threat of climate change. "Be careful. Be careful. The threat of climate change is real and we have felt and felt all countries in the world," said President Jokowi when delivering a speech at the LIKE Festival, Indonesia Arena GBK, Jakarta, followed from the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Monday, September 18. The current earth temperature is heating up, even with the weather, even drought has hit various parts of the world, not only in Indonesia. This situation, said Jokowi, had an impact on the food crisis, both wheat and rice. "Finally what?, there is a food crisis. Some countries lack food," he said. He said as many as 19 countries had made the decision to moratorium on food exports in order to maintain domestic food supplies. "Whether it's wheat, whether it's rice that these countries usually export rice, 19 countries have now stopped, export brakes, not exported anymore," he said. The decision triggered an increase in rice commodity prices in foreign markets, including those currently occurring in Indonesia. Reporting from the website of the National Strategic Food Price Information Center (PIHPS) from Bank Indonesia on Monday afternoon, the price of medium I rice in a number of domestic markets varies. South Kalimantan occupies the highest price of Rp. 17,000 per kilogram, followed by West Sumatra Rp. 15,750 per kilogram, DKI Jakarta Rp. 15,200 per kilogram, and North Maluku, West Kalimantan, and Riau each Rp. 15,050 per kilogram. "Many countries have an increase in rice prices, including in Indonesia, which has increased slightly. Be careful about this," he said. Previously, the National Police's Food Task Force ensured that rice supply and availability were safe so that people were advised not to panic and buy the basic necessities in excess. Nationally, the availability of rice stocks as of September 6, 2023 in Bulog was 1,508,362 tons, consisting of 1,455,893 tons of government rice reserves and 52,468 tons of commercial stock. Meanwhile, the stock in the Cipinang Rice Main Market is 25,840 tons and the Cipinang Food Station is 13,812 tons. The National Police's Food Task Force also noted that the realization of market operation rice or supply stabilization and rice prices (SPHP) reached 752,902,387 kilograms or 752,902.38 tons. Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi in Bogor, West Java, last week said the government distributed rice aid through the SPHP to control inflation due to rice prices in Indonesia which are predicted to still increase until the end of 2023. He said the increase in rice prices in the domestic market had affected national inflation by 7.9 percent as of August 2023. "The increase in rice prices in the domestic market is also influenced by the increase in the production cost component to dry grain," Arief added.