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.