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President Calls on Indonesians to Ensure Food Security
Arientha Primanita, Agustiyanti & Ivan Dasa Saputra | February 07, 2012

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Serigala-Berbulu-Domba
9:54am Feb 8, 2012

memaku

It appears to have passed you by that vegetables, fruit, rice and sugar are already imported from abroad and that this has long been the case. I would be surprised if this situation will change going forward.

blightyboy
9:24am Feb 8, 2012

Well a certain someone could cut down on his own food intake, that would help.


mamaku
9:18am Feb 8, 2012

hopefully it would not be an excuse to import vegetables,fruits,rice,sugar,etc from abroad, which is will be destroy our national agriculture


WebEd
8:39am Feb 8, 2012

Yes SBD. Headline changed. Completely.

Serigala-Berbulu-Domba
7:54am Feb 8, 2012

WebEd

The normal English expression would be : All hands to the pumps, not AT the pumps

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on all levels of society on Tuesday to make sure the nation does not lack for food.

“We should all be united because we all know that we will have to face food problems,” Yudhoyono said, addressing the Food Security Forum at the Jakarta Convention Center.

In a bid to strengthen the country’s food security, he said the government would prioritize the development of pro-people programs such as rice assistance for the poor (Raskin) as well as assistance in health and education.

He also said the country could not rely only on the expansion of fields to boost food production, warning that climate change could not be staved off.

“We need to make use of technology to increase productivity so that the output can be high. By doing this, we may be able to provide enough food for Indonesia and also the world,” he said.

The president added that the prices of food commodities should be kept stable and vowed that the government would improve its infrastructure and logistics to ensure equitable distribution of food.

“The government cannot always control prices because there is a market mechanism, but we will have to safeguard price stability so the people will not suffer from jolts in prices,” he said.

The government, Yudhoyono added, would continue to monitor economic patterns at the global level and, whenever necessary, would coordinate with other countries in modifying policies so that the country faced no problem with its food supply.

The summit was organized by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and was held together with other events such as a seminar and a two-day food exhibition.

Kadin chairman Suryo Bambang Sulisto, addressing the same summit, said strategic steps were needed in order to anticipate food security issues at home and overseas.

“The food crisis is presently, and will be in the future, felt not only by poor countries but advanced countries as well, in Asia and in Europe. The supply of food from developing countries to developed ones continue to slide because of various factors,” Suryo said. “We in the private sector are fully aware that efforts to meet food demands in a sustainable way at the national level are an extraordinarily large commitment.”

Franky Widjaja, the head of Kadin’s agrobusiness, food and livestock department, said Indonesia possessed the necessary potential to achieve self sufficiency and food sovereignty.

He expressed the hope that Indonesia would eventually not only be able to meet its own demand but also export food.