Bapanas: Hormuz Tensions Do Not Disrupt Supply of 11 Strategic National Food Commodities

The government has ensured that the availability of 11 strategic staple foods remains secure and undistorted. Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Food Agency (Bapanas) has confirmed that geopolitical tensions in the Strait of Hormuz region in the Middle East are not disrupting the availability of Indonesia’s 11 strategic national staple foods, with stock conditions remaining safe. Bapanas Main Secretary Sarwo Edhy stated that disruptions to international trade routes in the area have not yet exerted significant pressure on national food security. “The government ensures that the availability of the 11 strategic staple foods remains safe and undistorted,” said Sarwo when receiving participants from the Indonesian National Police High Staff and Leadership School (Sespimti Polri) at the Ministry of Agriculture, as per a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday. He conveyed that, based on the food balance projection, all those commodities are in a safe condition. The commodities that are still fulfilled through imports do not originate from the Middle East region. “In terms of balance and availability, it is very sufficient. We have not yet seen any significant impact on the national food supply,” he said. He assured that import sources come from countries unaffected by the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, such as soybeans from the United States, buffalo meat from India, cattle from Australia, and garlic from China. “Thus, the distribution routes do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz, so the influence is very small,” he said. Meanwhile, Deputy for Distribution and Services Statistics at the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) Ateng Hartono stated that food stability is also reflected in the Price Development Index (IPH), which shows an improving trend. According to him, in the fourth week of April 2024, the number of provinces experiencing an IPH increase decreased to 13 provinces, compared to the previous week with 15 provinces. “The trend continues to decline since early April. In the first week, 21 provinces were recorded, then 22 provinces in the second week, down to 15 provinces in the third week, and now 13 provinces,” he said. “The number continues to decrease since early April, from 160 regions, then 149, 137, and now 126 regions,” said Ateng. Previously, the Head of Bapanas, who is also the Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman, stated that Indonesia has achieved food self-sufficiency, with a relatively small portion of imports. He mentioned that total imports are around 3.5 million tonnes compared to national production of 73 million tonnes or about 4.8 percent. If compared to national needs of 68 million tonnes, the portion is slightly above 5 percent. The total imports consist of soybeans around 2.6 million tonnes, garlic 600 thousand tonnes, and ruminant meat 350 thousand tonnes, while production of the 11 food commodities reaches about 73.7 million tonnes per year. The 11 strategic staple food commodities include rice, feed corn, cayenne pepper, large chili, chicken meat, chicken eggs, shallots, consumption sugar, soybeans, garlic, as well as beef and buffalo meat.