Expert warns food crisis may result in lower IQs

BOGOR, West Java (JP): An expert has expressed concern that the food crisis and malnutrition affecting an untold number of babies in various Indonesian areas will lead to the birth of stupid generations in the future.

Acting rector of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture Aman Wirakartakusumah cited in a graduation ceremony here on Saturday the many reports of people and babies already facing food shortages, and pictures of children with distended bellies because of malnutrition.

"The reports that have reached us are only the tip of an iceberg," he said, echoing an earlier concern by Unicef area representative Stephen J. Woodhouse.

"Such a situation could mean (eventual) 'massive stupidity' in any given area," he said, citing the need to anticipate problems of the current food shortage.

"The nutritional status of a baby today has much to do with her or his intellectual development and capabilities as an adult," he said. "This sorry economic state, unless systematically handled, would also mean a vulnerable state of social, economic and political affairs," he added.

State Minister of Food and Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin recently estimated that 17.1 million Indonesian families -- 70 million people if there are four members to one family -- were already facing food shortages. More than seven million families were already in a critical situation as they were only able to eat once a day or even less. Official statistics have put the number of poor people to reach 100 million by year's end.

Saefuddin said in Yogyakarta on Saturday that the government planned to import 4.1 million metric tons of rice for 1998/1999. Some 1.9 million tons have been pledged under a contract, 0.6 million tons are still in a tender process and the remainder is to be processed next month.

The short-term procurement of food by rice imports under foreign assistance is received in different ways, such as grants, medium- and long-term loans and under commercial schemes, said Saefuddin, reported Antara.

The aid was given by the donors directly to target groups, non-governmental organizations and the government. The government has formed a team to avoid confusion in channeling the aid, called Food Supply Monitoring Team. Its tasks include coordinating the allocation of aid, deciding priorities in the channeling of aid, and the areas with the highest eligibility.

Saefuddin said that the rice aid was provided under the World Food Program (WFP) through the government, and under the Food for Work Program, managed by the agriculture ministry.

The food aid received from Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan amounted to 900,000 tons of rice. The grants came from Japan, consisting of 50,000 tons for poor families in Java and Sumatra, and distributed through WFP, 5,000 tons from Thailand, 10,000 tons from Vietnam through the national logistics agency (Bulog), and 21,000 tons from Singapore through the security and defense ministry.

Wirakartakusumah suggested that the government's social safety net program be launched in a holistic manner, which includes natural, financial, technological and institutional resources.

"The program should be handled well... to overcome problems such as food shortages and unemployment, and should produce commodities which replace imported goods, earn foreign income and conserve the natural resource," he said.

For 1998/1999, the government has allocated Rp 17.25 trillion (US$1.6 billion) for the social safety net program. The bulk of the funds -- Rp 1.010 trillion -- was allocated for labor- intensive projects in order to absorb dismissed workers.

The government only allocated Rp 65.7 billion to develop small industries, and Rp 147.2 billion to develop cooperatives. Experts have said it was actually small and medium industries that had so far proven to be the safety valve for the crisis, absorbing not only manpower but also had stronger economic potentials. (24/swe)