Jakarta, (Antara) - A 1952 speech of First President Soekarno, at the groundbreaking ceremony of Bogor Institute of Agriculture`s campus in 1952, is traditionally passed on from one generation to the next by the leaders of the institute.
More than six decades ago, the founding father of the country, better known as Bung Karno, had made out a case about how food supply for the people was a matter of life and death for Indonesia.
It meant that for a nation, particularly Indonesia with its ever increasing population, self sufficiency in food is a certainty that the government must maintain, irrespective of who is in power.
Indonesia eventually came to be known as an agricultural country with food security and food self-sufficiency topping the agenda, but in the past ten years, reality has been much different from the situation prevailing on the ground.
Many academicians and NGOs working in the agricultural sector have been cautioning the government about the situation on the food self-sufficiency front in Indonesia becoming critical following a flood of imported agricultural commodities.
The situation has become so grave that it can no longer be addressed with just a statement of concern, not when the threat of food self-reliance looms large on the horizon.
In fact, it has become all the more necessary now to ask how Indonesia plans to attain food self sufficiency in a paradigm of inequality in world food production.
It is in this matrix that the West Sumatran provincial city of Padang will be hosting an event from October 24-27, 2013 to mark the World Food Day.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), referring to the World Food Day 2013, says on its website http://www.fao.org/: "Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition" will be the focus of this year`s event.
The official World Food Day theme - announced at the start of every year by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - gives focus to World Food Day observances and helps increase understanding of the problems and solutions in the drive to end hunger.
The FAO says almost 842 million people worldwide are currently chronically undernourished, while unsustainable models of development are degrading the natural environment, threatening ecosystems and biodiversity that will be needed for future food supply.
"Addressing malnutrition requires integrated action and complementary interventions in agriculture and the food system, in natural resource management, in public health and education, and in broader policy domains," according to the FAO.
Every year on October 16, World Food Day is observed around the world by all FAO member countries, including Indonesia, in honor of the day when the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was founded in 1945.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, World Food Day related activities in Indonesia will lend momentum to efforts being made by all stakeholders and increase public awareness and understanding about the importance of maintaining supply of sufficient nutritious food for both, the Indonesian people as well as the world.
Rise in population, conversion of agriculture land into industrial and settlement areas, coupled with climate change are all factors that pose a great challenge to agriculture, marine and fisheries, and forestry sectors.
However, these are exactly the sectors that must ensure an enhanced and sustainable food supply, while maintaining a balanced ecosystem and preventing any damage to biodiversity.
At the same time, the idea of national food security, based on local resources, is facing a challenge in this era of globalization and free trade since imported food products are flooding the consumers` market.
If this phenomenon is ignored, food security will become more vulnerable, not due to threat of any natural disaster, but factors such as inflation, and increasing prices of imported food products which are not accompanied by an increase in local people`s income and purchasing power.
Therefore, optimization of local resources is really needed to achieve self sufficiency in food.
Cooperation and synergy among various stake holders are also important factors in improving sustainable and nutritious food products to meet the national food demand.
In tune with the "Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition" as the focus of this year`s World Food Day, the national theme for the event this time is "The Optimization of Local Resources towards Self-sufficiency in Food."
The Ministry of Agriculture chose the theme, considering that Indonesia has abundant natural food resources with a high nutritional value.
Therefore, Bogor Institute of Agriculture Alumni Association (HA IPB) Chairman Bambang Hendroyono has suggested that the government optimize the utilization of local agricultural produce as a necessity to strengthen the national food security.
"In our effort to reach the national food security goal, the HA IPB will continue to encourage the utilization of local agriculture produce," Bambang Hendroyono said.
Hendroyono`s contention emanated from his concern about the large amount of imported agricultural produce that came into Indonesia this year.
Referring to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), he said rice import from January to June 2013 amounted to 239,000 tons with a total value of US$124.4, while corn import in the same period amounted 1.3 million tons.
Besides, soybean import and flour import in the same period amounted to 826,000 tons or US$509.5 million, and 82,501 tons or US$36.9 million, respectively.
"Even 923,000 tons of salt worth US$43.1 was imported between January and June this year," Hendroyono noted.
Further, the director general of forest production in the Ministry of Forestry also asserted that importing agricultural produce would make local farmers` condition miserable.
"No matter what the reason is, importing agricultural produce is really dampening the spirit of Indonesian farmers and making them miserable," Hendroyono said.
According to him, it is ironical that Indonesia is recorded to have the highest number of students and scholars of agriculture in the world but imports such a huge variety of agricultural produce.
He called on the government to upgrade farm techniques, ensure farmers` skill enhancement, improve agricultural infrastructure, and simplify financing schemes in the agricultural sector.
Meanwhile, IPB Rector Herry Suhardiyanto said the proclivity to adopt a shortcut by importing agricultural commodities should be countered by bringing various parties closer together.
"We need to bring all stake holders closer together and master the market game by bridging the producer-consumer divide," Suhardiyanto said.
He encouraged all related parties in the agricultural sector to recognize the importance of the attempts to achieve food security and self sufficiency.
Indonesia's road to food self sufficiency
Kamis, 17 Oktober 2013 14:59 WIB