Day: November 8, 2022

The National Food Agency (NFA) is ready to extend support to improve West Java’s food sector potential by allocating food logistics facilities and infrastructure that will be useful in extending the shelf life of products.

“Facilities and infrastructure, such as refrigerators, freezers, storage machines, and drying machines at food production centres, generally aim to ensure the food cold chain, so that stocks are maintained,” NFA Head Arief Prasetyo Adi stated during the Cheap Food Festival and the 2022 World Food Day in Bandung, West Java, on Tuesday.

The NFA had allocated six facilities for the districts of Cianjur, Bandung, and Ciamis, he remarked.

“One of them we hand over symbolically on the momentum of the commemoration of World Food Day in West Java,” he stated.

The agency distributed two refrigerators and two freezers, one unit each for Ciamis and Cianjur.

Moreover, they gave a storage machine and a drying machine for Bandung District.

These facilities will be managed by cooperatives, state-owned enterprises, region-owned enterprises, or farmer groups, so that their utilization and maintenance can be guaranteed.

The allocations were part of NFA’s strategy to manage stocks and conduct strategic food price stabilization, he stated. The measure was also part of the additional efforts to control food inflation.

Adi also commended the West Java Government for being able to maintain the stability of food stocks and prices in its region, thereby contributing to a reduction in the national food inflation.

“One of the (real measures) that have been taken is the collaboration of the West Java Provincial Government with NFA, the Transportation Ministry, and the Trade Ministry to send 200 tons of rice from West Java to Aceh via the sea highway from Patimban Port. Today, we will also send rice from West Java to Sumatra,” he noted.

This collaboration by the West Java Provincial Government and the stakeholders to source foods to other places that lack them aligned with President Joko Widodo’s directives.

According to the presidential directives, all food stakeholders collaborate to build connectivity to transfer food from surplus to deficit areas in order to maintain national food availability and stability.

West Java Province has large and diverse food potential, so it becomes a national rice barn.

West Java’s total rice production in 2021 reached around 5.2 million tons, thereby making it one of the largest rice center provinces.

Apart from rice, West Java is also a producer of shallots, large chilies, palawija, and various fruits.

This high food potential should be supported by food logistics facilities with good technology in order to have a significant impact on food security and community nutrition, as well as improve the welfare of local farmers, ranchers, and fishermen.

He said that for it to have profound impact, particularly in improving nutrition and economic growth, the support of food facilities and infrastructure with good technology was vital in food production centres in West Java.

“West Java is one of the important food barns for Indonesia. This potential needs to be backed up by infrastructure with adequate technology, so that the commodities produced can give added value for economic growth and people’s nutrition as well as for food stability and security,” Adi concluded.

 

Source: Antara News

The Social Affairs Ministry has provided assistance in the form of business capital to 105 people living with disabilities in Pariaman city, West Sumatra, to support their activities and improve the economy.

“So, 105 of the 315 people we have proposed to the Social Affairs Ministry have received the assistance; the assistance given has varied,” Head of the Pariaman Social Affairs Office Muhamad Rum informed in Pariaman on Tuesday.

The assistance has included 97 packages of staple foods, 6 wheelchairs, dozens of mattresses, and 4 storefronts, as well as business capital assistance for drinks, phone credit, and equipment for selling fried foods, he said.

The aid was allocated to beneficiaries on Monday (November 7); however, some of the aids, such as hearing aids and prosthetic limbs, have yet to be provided as measurements still need to be taken for them.

The ministry’s assistance could help Pariaman residents who have problems performing activities due to physical limitations, he added.

“We previously also provided assistance to (people with) disabilities in Pariaman, both through the Pariaman National Amil Zakat Agency (Baznas) and through the regional budget, the Social Welfare Coordination Institute, and the Family Hope Program for Disability,” he said.

Last year, 174 people living with disabilities in Pariaman received assistance from the ministry in the form of prosthetic legs, wheelchairs, staple foods, and beds, he informed.

He said that the names of 210 people living with disabilities who did not receive assistance this year will be proposed again to the Social Affairs Ministry in 2023. “We hope that next year, some 210 people with disabilities will receive assistance,” Rum said.

His administration will still provide assistance in the form of staple foods to reduce social inequality in the area. The assistance will be allocated either through the National Zakat Agency, Social Welfare Coordination Institute, or regional budget.

 

Source: Antara News

With the onset of the rainy season, the Jambi Provincial Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) is working to mitigate potential hydrometeorological disasters, such as floods, landslides, and whirlwinds, in the region.

“To deal with hydrometeorological disasters, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has released (a statement) that the rainy season has arrived in November, with rain intensity already in the heavy to high category, and the prediction lasts until January,” Jambi BPBD acting chief Dody Chandra informed here on Tuesday.

The mitigation efforts carried out by Jambi BPBD have included sending letters to district and city governments to encourage self-warning and preparedness for facing potential floods and landslides, as well as explanations of what district and city governments must pay attention to.

Chandra has asked district and city governments in Jambi to increase coordination with the related agencies and apparatus and educate the people on disaster early-warning using social media.

“Mitigation efforts (include) cleaning water flows, neutralizing rivers, (creating) vegetation of plants with strong roots, and building walls that hold cliffs,” he said.

The regions need to prepare and disseminate information about safe evacuation routes by considering the health protocols, identifying required resources, and if necessary, declaring a state of disaster emergency and establishing command posts, he added.

The two regions that have the highest potential for floods in the province are Bungo and Merangin districts, he said.

Meanwhile, Bungo, Merangin, Kerinci, and Sungai Penuh have the highest risk of landslides, and Jambi city, Muarojambi, Tanjung Jabung Barat, and Tanjung Jabung Timur are at risk of experiencing whirlwinds.

In addition, Chandra said his agency has received a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs outlining steps and efforts for dealing with hydrometeorological disasters.

“The letter’s contents are almost the same as what we wrote to the district/city (administrations),” he added.

 

Source: Antara News

Chief of the Presidential Staff Moeldoko has asked regional governments to increase the production of superior food crops.

“In Bima (West Nusa Tenggara), their maize is superior. This productivity must be further increased in order to maintain regional and national food security,” he said while receiving Bima Mayor Muhammad Lutfi at the Bina Graha Building, Presidential Palace Complex, here on Tuesday.

Food security is key for facing the risk of a global crisis, he observed. Therefore, the government is seeking to promote food security through various strategies and policies.

In terms of financing, the government has provided People’s Business Credit (KUR), which can be accessed by agricultural sector players at an interest rate of only three percent until the end of 2022, he informed.

The government has also increased the credit’s ceiling to Rp373.17 trillion (US$23.8 billion).

“Regional governments can use it either for the procurement of agricultural machinery and equipment or the corporatization of the agricultural sector,” Moeldoko said.

Moreover, the government is also diversifying regional foods by increasing the production of corn, sorghum, sago, and cassava through land expansion and the opening of new areas, he noted.

“Currently, anything is done to maintain food security so that there is an even distribution of people’s welfare,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bima Mayor Muhammad Lutfi said that an inadequate irrigation system is still impeding efforts to increase agricultural production. Thus, corn growers are still relying on rainwater.

“We need a dam that can be used as technical irrigation to increase agricultural production, especially of corn,” he said.

Currently, the city government is planning to construct two dams, he informed. The dams are expected to prevent floods during the rainy season like those experienced in 2016.

In 2016, high rainfall caused the river water to overflow and flood the entire city, causing Rp2 trillion (US$127 million) in losses.

“In addition to anticipating flooding, this dam is also very important as a source of raw water. Thus, we need support from the Presidential Staff Office,” he added.

 

Source: Antara News