Thought for food
Thought for food
The drought currently plaguing several regions of Indonesia
could not have come at a worse time. If United Nations research
findings published this week are correct, an estimated 7.5
million Indonesians now face food insecurity that could last
until early next year if the present prolonged dry season
continues much longer.
The people most threatened, according to a separate United
Nations Development Program statement issued this week, "are in
the bottom third of the eight million rural families who... live
under chronic marginal circumstances, or on less than two meals a
day". In other words, those threatened are the poorest of the
poor in this country. In a number of areas, especially in remote
Irian Jaya and elsewhere in eastern Indonesia, food shortages
aggravated by poor communications and brush and forest fires have
led to the death of thousands of people.
Since the drought is one of the main reasons behind the
deteriorating food situation, the prospects for the near future
are not looking very promising indeed. The El Nino freak weather
phenomenon has not only delayed last year's onset of the rainy
season in Indonesia, but has kept rainfall well below the normal
yearly average in almost every region of the country. Although it
appears that El Nino has begun to subside, its impact continues
to linger and is not expected to disappear until the end of this
month at the earliest. Obviously, the unusual weather has wreaked
havoc with the country's food production.
Farmers, particularly in the rice producing areas of Central
and East Java, have been compelled by drought to switch from
planting rice to planting secondary crops such as soybeans,
cassava and corn, forcing rice production down well below target.
According to one estimate, only 40 percent of the latest rice
production targets for Java has been achieved.
As a result, UN and Indonesian experts believe that the
country will have to import a record amount of rice this year --
an amount that could reach anywhere from a minimum of four
million tons to eight million tons to more than 12 million tons
under a worst-case scenario. As early as last February, the World
Bank warned that Indonesia would have to import at least four
million tons of rice.
This would have been bad enough under normal circumstances.
But with the economic crisis still continuing unabated, it is
doubtful, to say the least, that the country can afford spending
such amounts of money on rice imports out of its own coffers. The
food assistance offered by such multinational organizations as
the World Bank, as well as by individual countries, is therefore
most welcome. Still, a few other consequences of the economic
crisis concerning the food situation must be considered. For
example, a lack of funds has forced many farmers to reduce the
amount of fertilizer they utilize while using inferior seeds,
which again leads to reduced harvests.
Clearly, the ongoing crisis is putting an extra burden on the
shoulders of the authorities. It took much time, effort and
expense during the years of growing prosperity to educate and
help farmers achieve higher levels of production. Now, as funds
have become severely limited, it is easy to see that this task
has become considerably harder. Yet, such efforts must be
continued or possibly even stepped up under the prevailing
circumstances. The food aid to be provided by Indonesia's friends
abroad will certainly help. However, it may not be enough to
satisfy the needs of our more than 200 million people.
It would seem that present circumstances are giving renewed
relevance to the campaign, held on several occasions in the past,
to persuade people to shed their almost total dependence on rice
as a staple food. While becoming excessively alarmed over the
situation would do no one any good, it would certainly be wise
for Indonesians to do all that is in their power to overcome
their present misfortunes.