Ministry of Villages, FAO Launch Training to Strengthen Food System Governance

The Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions (Kemendes PDT) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations have launched a training programme to improve the governance of sustainable food and agricultural systems and bolster national food security. The workshop is designed to equip senior Kemendes PDT officials with the skills and methods to develop and implement evidence-based policies and interventions for transforming Indonesia’s food and agricultural systems. “Indonesia is a vast country with an extraordinary diversity of food systems. We hope this workshop will serve as a platform for us to share international experiences and global knowledge facilitated by the FAO,” said Samsul Widodo, Director General of Disadvantaged Region Empowerment at Kemendes PDT, in Jakarta on Monday. He added that the workshop is expected to support the ministry’s plan to establish centres of excellence for food system development, where rural communities can learn about healthy dietary patterns, food value chains, emergency preparedness, and local food system development. “The transformation of food and agricultural systems is a relatively new concept, and the Ministry of Villages has the potential to translate it into real action at the grassroots level. Therefore, this training is crucial for our senior officials as decision-makers,” he added. The training also introduces an analytical approach based on the FAO governance framework, which was launched in 2022 and has been applied in various countries and development contexts. According to Samsul, this framework follows a structured four-phase process that integrates governance analysis into the design and implementation of interventions, supported by strengthened coordination and participatory mechanisms. Furthermore, the ministry has established a village development action plan that includes priorities such as food security, product downstreaming, youth empowerment, and climate and disaster resilience to drive the transformation of food and agricultural systems.