Bapanas Intensifies Cheap Food Movement Ahead Of Ramadan 2023

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The National Food Agency or Bapanas is intensifying market operations or the Cheap Food Movement (GPM) as well as facilitating food distribution ahead of Ramadan to Idul Fitri 1444 H.

"The closer to D-day, the more we will increase the intensity. We encourage Market Operations or the Cheap Food Movement to be carried out in 38 provinces and 514 districts/cities in Indonesia through collaboration with the Food Affairs Office in all provinces and districts/cities in Indonesia," said the Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo Adi in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Friday 3 March.

Until entering March, Arief said, many provinces had carried out market operations or GPM, such as Gorontalo, West Java, Central Java, Jambi, Maluku, Central Sulawesi, West Sumatra, North Sulawesi, Aceh, NTB, and NTT.

The implementation of the GPM is the result of a collaboration between Bapanas and related ministries and institutions, the National Police Food Task Force, Bank Indonesia, Food Affairs Services throughout Indonesia, BUMN, BUMD, associations, and other related parties. In this activity, 9 strategic food ingredients were provided at fair prices or below market prices.

"Through GPM, we are increasing the affordability and purchasing power of the people," he said.

In addition to increasing GPM intensity, Bapanas is also trying to control food inflation by ensuring food availability, especially for strategic food commodities that need to be met from outside, such as ruminant meat and consumption sugar.

"For beef and buffalo as well as sugar consumption, we have assigned Bulog and asked the Ministry of BUMN to assign BUMN Food to carry out the procurement," he said.

Arief explained that for ruminant meat, ID FOOD would procure around 100 thousand tons of beef and Bulog would procure around 100 thousand tons of buffalo meat.

"The arrival will be carried out in stages, we will accelerate (arrival) before Eid to increase stocks and maintain meat prices in the community," he explained.

Likewise with sugar consumption, in the first stage until May 2023, BUMN Food ID FOOD and PTPN Holding Plantations were tasked with procuring around 215 thousand tons of White Crystal Sugar (GKP).

Not only that, but Bapanas is also making efforts to stabilize the supply and price of cooking oil by distributing MinyaKita's bulk cooking oil and packaged cooking oil through BUMN Food ID FOOD. As of March 1, 2023, it was recorded that ID FOOD had distributed a total of 11 million liters of MinyaKita to 27 provinces.