UNDP warns of food insecurity in RI<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations warned yesterday that the
\nlong drought and monetary crisis is threatening Indonesia's food
\nsecurity and that rice imports could reach record levels this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
An 11-member team of officials from the Food and Agricultural
\nOrganization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) concluded
\nafter a three-week study in the country that delayed and
\nirregular rainfall, reduced use of fertilizer and low quality
\nseeds could also lead to a reduced rice harvest.<\/p>\n
They added that 7.5 million people living in 15 provinces
\nrisked experiencing food insecurity until early 1999 if the
\nprolonged dry season lasted much longer.<\/p>\n
The provinces were not named but a statement from the United
\nNations Development Program (UNDP) said \"these people are the
\nbottom third of the eight million rural families who, according
\nto Bappenas (the National Development Planning Board), live under
\nchronic marginal circumstances\", or on less than two meals a day.<\/p>\n
The team, sponsored by UNDP Indonesia, reported their findings
\nto donor representatives at the UN building in Central Jakarta
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
\"We certainly could not call this situation a famine,\" mission
\nleader Uwe Kracht said. But many pockets of the population are
\nfacing acute food supply inadequacies, he added.<\/p>\n
During their stay the team traveled throughout the country and
\ngathered information from various sources, including the
\ngovernment, farmers, research institutions and non-governmental
\norganizations.<\/p>\n
A majority of Indonesia's 203 million people are rural
\ndwellers, dependent on traditional agricultural production, such
\nas rice growing.<\/p>\n
Meteorologists blame the El Nino weather phenomenon for
\npreventing seasonal monsoon rains from falling in many areas.<\/p>\n
Crops have failed and tinder-dry forests have been burned,
\nproducing a thick, health-threatening smoke haze over some areas.<\/p>\n
In addition to the drought, Indonesia is also facing its worst
\neconomic crisis in 30 years; the rupiah has plunged about 70
\npercent and this has caused inflation and unemployment to soar.<\/p>\n
UNDP resident representative Ravi Rajan, who is also the UN's
\nresident coordinator, admitted that the world body was concerned
\nabout the food security situation of the poorest in the country
\nand hoped to help them through emergency food assistance for a
\nlimited time.<\/p>\n
He said the WFP would target vulnerable groups with assistance
\nin the form of food for work community development activities and
\nnutritional support for young children, pregnant women and
\nbreast-feeding mothers.<\/p>\n
Not all was bleak however as the FAO\/WFP team revealed that
\nthey found that production of most secondary crops such as
\nsoybeans, cassava, maize and sweet potatoes was expected to
\nincrease and should provide a limited food security cushion.<\/p>\n
Food imports<\/p>\n
Separately, World Bank Country Director for Indonesia Dennis
\nde Tray said in Washington Tuesday that Indonesia's bill for key
\nimports could be anything from US$1.5 billion to $3 billion over
\nthe next 12 months.<\/p>\n
The most critical imports -- including rice, soybeans,
\nmedicine and contraceptives -- would total about $1.5 billion for
\nthe fiscal year that started yesterday. If other needed imports,
\nsuch as animal feed, were included the estimates increased, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
De Tray was briefing reporters ahead of a meeting scheduled
\nfor Wednesday at the World Bank of a donor group -- comprising
\nrepresentatives of more than 20 countries, United Nations
\norganizations and the International Monetary Fund -- to figure out
\ninitial plans for assistance.<\/p>\n
The participants will be seeking to get a sense of the size of
\nIndonesia's problem and what each might contribute. No one has
\nmade any pledges yet.<\/p>\n
The donor countries include the United States, Japan, Germany,
\nBritain, Australia and Canada.<\/p>\n
De Tray was quoted by Reuters as saying that Indonesia had a
\nvariety of needs, including pure grant funds for programs for the
\npoor and trade finance schemes.<\/p>\n
The immediate concern is to prepare for the coming year's
\nneeds, de Tray said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia might need to import up to three million tons of
\nrice over the next year, for example, and donors need to figure
\nout how the country might buy it without sending prices shooting
\nup or how to import it without jamming ports.<\/p>\n
\"This is a very difficult situation,\" he said. \"To our
\nknowledge, no country has suffered the kind of withdrawal of
\nconfidence in its own currency that Indonesia has suffered, since
\nthe Second World War.\"<\/p>\n
\"The recovery is not going to be easy. With the best of
\nintentions and the best of commitment, it's going to take a
\nwhile. It's going to be years, not months.\" (mds)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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