West Bandung Regency's Strategy to Tackle Potential Food Insecurity

The West Bandung Regency administration has prepared premium rice as a regional government food reserve (CPPD). The rice reserve is intended to anticipate a food crisis due to a prolonged dry season caused by El Niño, as well as for handling food-insecure areas and natural disasters. Based on data from the West Bandung Regency Food Security and Agriculture Office (DKPP), total procurement of the food reserve rice from 2022 to 2025 reached 145.37 tonnes. Meanwhile, distribution up to 2025 has reached 60,722.1 kilograms, leaving an available stock of 84,647 kilograms. “This is proof that the government is present for the people in need, not only providing assistance during disasters. I want the community to feel comfortable and their food security to be fulfilled,” said West Bandung Bupati Jeje Ritchie Ismail on Friday (10/7/2026). Jeje has instructed the DKPP to monitor food availability. He does not want any residents of West Bandung to experience food insecurity, including during this year’s dry season, which is predicted to be longer due to the end of the La Niña phenomenon and the transition to El Niño. “I have also ordered the DKPP that if there are still people in need or experiencing food shortages, the regional government is ready,” Jeje added. Head of the West Bandung DKPP, Lukmanul Hakim, added that the food reserve has a vital function as a buffer when production and community needs are unbalanced. The existence of the food reserve is also crucial for handling various situations, ranging from natural disasters, food insecurity, and emergency conditions to stunting management and efforts to control inflation and maintain the stability of staple food prices. “If such things occur, we have regional food reserve stocks, and we will carry out interventions for the affected communities,” Lukmanul Hakim said. For the procurement of the reserve rice, he said, the West Bandung Regency administration cooperates with Bulog. Therefore, when an emergency situation occurs, his party will immediately distribute the food reserve to the communities in need in West Bandung. “We cooperate with Bulog, so if a food emergency occurs, we just need to coordinate with Bulog to send supplies to the affected areas. From the start, our procurement has been premium quality,” Lukmanul stated. Head of the Food Security Division at the West Bandung DKPP, Agus Hendarsyah, explained that the distribution of the reserve rice is stipulated in West Bandung Regional Regulation Number 11 of 2022 concerning Food Security, detailed by Bupati Regulation Number 46 of 2022 concerning the CPPD. There are two mechanisms for distributing the food reserve rice. The first is a top-down system, a food aid distribution mechanism driven directly by instructions from the regional head. This distribution is usually emergency-based and prioritised for natural disaster management, price fluctuations, or food insecurity. “The second is a bottom-up system. If a disaster, price fluctuation, or stunting case occurs, the distribution is proposed either from the village or sub-district level. We have already socialised this matter to villages and sub-districts,” Agus said.