Mataram (ANTARA) - A year ago, the grounds of the Institute of\nDomestic Governance (IPDN) campus in Praya, Central Lombok, bore witness\nto a speech brimming with optimism about rapid progress and\ndevelopmental leaps.<\/p>\n
Under the leadership of Lalu Muhamad Iqbal and Indah Dhamayanti Putri\n(Iqbal-Dinda), West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) entered a new chapter, with the\ngrand vision of \u201cNTB Prosperous and World-Renowned\u201d.<\/p>\n
The theme of \u201cNTB\u2019s Rapid Progress for a Great Province\u201d, proclaimed\nduring the province\u2019s 67th anniversary, was not merely a ceremonial\nslogan. It became a working promise that must be tested by figures, by\ntangible change, and by the sense of justice felt by residents from\nLombok to Sape.<\/p>\n
The first year is always synonymous with laying foundations. The\npublic has not yet demanded a full harvest, but has already begun\nassessing the direction. Whether the rapid steps are measurable. Whether\nthe promise of equitable development truly reaches the villages. Whether\nbureaucratic reform is mere rhetoric or genuinely being implemented.<\/p>\n
Over the past year, a number of indicators have shown movement. NTB\u2019s\npoverty rate fell from 11.91 per cent in 2024 to 11.78 per cent in 2025.\nRice production surged from approximately 1.45 million tonnes to more\nthan 2 million tonnes by the end of 2025, through a land optimisation\nprogramme covering more than 10,700 hectares.<\/p>\n
The Farmers\u2019 Terms of Trade rose from 123 to 128. In the health\nsector, Manambai Regional General Hospital in Sumbawa was upgraded from\ntype C to type B. Air connectivity expanded, with five new domestic\nroutes and preparations for international routes in 2026.<\/p>\n
These figures are important, yet figures are not the end goal. They\nare merely the entry point for reading the quality and direction of\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n
Human resources and food security<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most notable achievements is the decline in stunting\nprevalence, projected to reach approximately 16.4 per cent by the end of\n2025. This figure is approaching the national target of 14 per cent.<\/p>\n The decline did not occur in isolation. It was supported by the\nintegration of data from the Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey and\nthe Central Statistics Agency, the digitalisation of nutritional\nrecord-keeping through e-PPGBM, and a foster parent movement for at-risk\ntoddlers.<\/p>\n Nutritional interventions were focused on the first 1,000 days of\nlife, the provision of iron supplement tablets for adolescent girls, and\nthe utilisation of local foods such as eggs, fish, and moringa.<\/p>\n This approach is not merely a health programme. It is a human\ndevelopment strategy. Every rupiah invested in nutrition yields\nmultiplied productivity returns in the future. In the logic of long-term\ndevelopment, this is the foundation of Golden Indonesia 2045.<\/p>\n In the food security sector, NTB has demonstrated its capacity as a\nnational rice and cattle granary. The cattle population reached\napproximately 1.3 million head in 2024, with 65 per cent located on\nSumbawa Island.<\/p>\n NTB maintains a meat surplus and is able to dispatch more than 50,000\nhead of beef cattle annually to other regions. In 2025, shipments of\nsacrificial cattle to other regions reached approximately 16,000 head,\nstill far below the national potential of more than 700,000 head per\nyear.<\/p>\n Steps to accelerate animal health testing through PCR in Mataram and\nplans to add livestock transport vessels demonstrate attention to supply\nchain efficiency. Meanwhile, the groundbreaking of an integrated poultry\ndownstream processing facility in Sumbawa, with an investment value of\napproximately Rp1.3 trillion, opens new hope. Feed mills, breeding\nfacilities, poultry abattoirs, and processing plants are expected to\nreduce production costs and create employment.<\/p>\n At the same time, the homework is clear. NTB\u2019s average cattle\npopulation growth rate stands at 0.56 per cent per year, below the\nnational growth rate of 2.12 per cent. Revitalisation of grazing lands\nand protein feed production are key.<\/p>\n Without upstream improvements, downstream processing will be\nhamstrung. What is needed here is the courage to allocate budgets for\nlocal feed research, university partnerships, and incentives for\nsmallholder livestock investment.<\/p>",
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