National Food Agency Completes Distribution Of Rice Food Aid To MBR

JAKARTA - The National Food Agency (NFA) through an assignment to Perum Bulog has completed the distribution of rice food assistance for low-income people.

"With the completion of the distribution of rice aid, we are currently trying to propose an additional period of distribution of aid for the next three months," said NFA Head Arief Prasetyo Adi in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, July 18.

Arief said the addition of the aid period was expected to strengthen efforts to control inflation.

BPS noted that national inflation in June 2023 on an annual basis was at 3.52 percent or decreased compared to May 2023 which was at 4.00 percent and lower than the previous year's June inflation of 4.35 percent.

Furthermore, Arief said that the process of distributing rice food aid certainly experienced various challenges in the field, ranging from data validation of beneficiary groups (KPM) to distribution access conditions to remote areas, especially in new provinces such as Southwest Papua, South Papua, Mountains Papua, and Central Papua.

For this reason, along with the development of the government system in the area, Arief encourages the strengthening of the food logistics system which can support the stability of food supply in the region.

"The rice food assistance serves as a cushion, so its existence is very important to maintain people's purchasing power, especially 21.353 million KPM which is included in this assistance program," he said.

Arief also appreciated Perum Bulog and PT Pos Indonesia as well as PT Jasa Prima Logistik (JPL), a subsidiary of Bulog and PT DNR Logistics, which distributes rice food aid in 38 provinces throughout Indonesia.

"Thank you for the synergy and collaboration that has been built so far, especially Perum Bulog and PT Pos Indonesia, DNR logistics, local governments, food task forces and other relevant stakeholders, so that the distribution of rice food assistance for three months has gone well," he said.