Legislator warns of Iran conflict impact on food security
Legislator warns of Iran conflict impact on food security
Johan Rosihan, a member of Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), has warned the government to monitor the geopolitical impacts of Middle Eastern conflicts not only on the energy sector but also on national food stability.
“The impact of the Iran-Israel war and America’s involvement needs to be taken seriously by the government. It will affect global oil prices and will influence our food distribution and production costs,” Johan stated in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Johan reminded the public that although the government claims adequate food stock availability during Ramadan, the issue on the ground extends beyond supply volume to include distribution and price stability.
“Even if we have plenty of stock, as the government claims at the start of Ramadan, the problem occurring in the markets is price increases. One reason is the uneven distribution of our supplies,” he explained.
According to him, rising oil prices will increase logistics costs and could potentially hamper the distribution of food supplies to various regions. If not anticipated early, this situation could worsen price disparities between regions.
“With increasing oil prices, this will impact our distribution obstacles due to rising distribution costs. Since this must be anticipated quickly, we should not be merely reactive,” he cautioned.
Johan stressed the importance of strengthening domestic production and reducing dependence on imports. He believes food sovereignty policies should be positioned as an integral part of national resilience.
“This is an alarm for us to remain concerned with domestic production and not be dependent on imports. Our food sovereignty policy must be part of a national resilience framework,” he emphasised.
Commission IV of the DPR RI will continue to encourage the government’s anticipatory measures to ensure global volatility does not result in severe pressure on farmers and consumers at home.