How to revamp the farming sector

How to revamp the farming sector

From Media Indonesia

The recent skyrocketing price of rice is actually the result of long practices of unsound rice supply and distribution. Unfortunately, the emphasis in the current polemic on this matter, colored frequently by emotional debates because each party has its own interests, is how to improve rice distribution channels or to distribute rice or funds for rice purchases to the poor. However, all this is too late. Even if the value-added tax on imported rice is exempted, the problem will only be solved temporarily.

In point of fact, the crux of the matter is the weakening of the people's purchasing power as a result of the ongoing crisis now and, worse still, because of two other factors -- the overvalued exchange rate of the American dollar against the rupiah and rice hoarding by speculators who wish to make the most profits at the expense of their fellow citizens' empty stomachs.

Purchasing power has got even weaker as thousands of workers in the industrial and service sectors have been laid off, a condition leading to the acceleration of the process of impoverishment (according to data of the Central Bureau of Statistics, about 27 families or about 80 million people now live under the poverty line).

Of course, high-ranking government officials may try to apply various systems or policies. One thing to remember, however, is that the application of the system must have direct effects on the community and that coordination among government agencies and ministries must be well established to avoid confusing comments and prevent the situation from become chaotic.

Allow me, then, to propose a number of measures which may be incorporated in government policies intended to solve long-term problems and at the same time lay, in the long run, a strong foundation for a better system:

1. Re-engineer the agricultural sector and at the same time reduce favoring megaprojects and conglomerates;

2. Give farmer's produce/output a worthy price (in accordance with proper business principles);

3. Create labor-intensive and land-intensive undertakings with clear targets in order to slightly restore the purchasing power. The business sector must be advised against resorting to layoffs under the pretext of efficiency;

4. Leave the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) under the care of the minister of agriculture and the minister of state for food affairs to ensure that the agency will be run more effectively. See to it that the agency is supported by a strong management system in distribution and marketing. In this way, the agency will perform its control function effectively from the upstream part to the downstream part in the food sector.

BIMO RAHARJO

Jakarta