New Food Paradigm

In the last two years, prices have tended not to reflect an increase in food production, especially rice. This situation demands rethinking the food paradigm. The government has worked very hard to increase rice production.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Farm workers harvest IR64 rice on Monday (23/4/2018) in Tirtoadi village, Mlati, Sleman, Yogyakarta. The workers receive a seventh of the total rice harvest as payment.

In the last two years, prices have tended not to reflect an increase in food production, especially rice. This situation demands rethinking the food paradigm.

The government has worked very hard to increase food production, mainly rice. It has dedicated funding and hard work were to develop new paddy fields, supply and subsidize seeds and fertilizer, provide credit aid and food production machinery, and even to maintaining prices at the production level to stimulate farmers in producing rice.

Even though production has increased, according to the Agriculture Ministry, prices have tended not to reflect the higher supply volume. To the end of April, rice prices were still relatively high, even though the peak of the rice harvest had passed.

There are several assumptions that have been raised to explain why prices did not reflect increased production. One is that harvesting is not simultaneous, so harvested rice enters the market gradually. Last year, the rice market had only a small stock, which prompted traders to race in buying rice during the harvest season.

The current situation is relatively favorable for farmers, because the price of unhusked rice is good. On the other hand, the government is paying close attention to keep food prices stable, especially for rice, because food prices determine inflation.

Since the Green Revolution of the 1960s, rice production has tended to be stagnant. Indonesia benefited from the revolution when researchers at the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, Philippines, discovered a species of rice that had high productivity and early maturity. The technological breakthrough broke Malthus\'s theory that the population grew in geometric progression, while food production increased in arithmetic progression.

We are facing at least four major challenges in food security – climate change, population growth, land and water availability, and logistics related to the transportation, storage and distribution of food.

The latest development shows the way we produce food is starting to see disruption in both production and consumption. Food consumption is changing because the people’s increased prosperity is accompanied by real inequality, causing different food demands. There are residents who have an excess of nutrients, but others are malnourished to the point that it has led to stunting; there are people living in easily accessible areas, but many live in remote areas. All are Indonesian citizens whose basic human rights to adequate and nutritious food must be fulfilled.

The disruption in food production and consumption requires a paradigm shift in how to provide food. One solution is to continue to develop technology to overcome constraints in the food supply.

Learning from our own experience and that of other countries, food management increasingly needs serious attention. The availability of food that is accessible to various levels of society is essential to mitigate unrest that could arise due to changes in the global economic and geopolitical order.