Cities Need a Food Buffer

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Cuts of beef hang from hooks on Monday (4/29/2019) at Kebayoran Market in South Jakarta. Traders say that beef prices are relatively stable at Rp 120,000 per kilogram, while the government continues with its efforts to prevent commodity prices from soaring ahead of Ramadhan and Lebaran.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The development of cities must be supported by a system of supporting food security. With an increasing number of people living in cities and the degradation of agricultural land, the provision of food is a big challenge in the future, especially in urban areas.

The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) estimates that Indonesia\'s population will reach 318 million by 2045. At that time, an estimated 67 percent of the population will live in urban areas at that time, up from an estimated 53 percent in 2015.

The director of the Complete Fruits and Vegetables Commodities Market (Paskomnas), Soekam Parwadi, said on Monday (29/4/2019) that the steps that need to be taken by cities to build food security, among others, is by encouraging urban agriculture and building distribution patterns that cut supply chains from producing regions. This can also be done through an online communal shopping program.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

=Siti Wali, 55, rakes unhusked rice set out to dry on the roadside in front of her house on Monday (4/29/2019) in Samri hamlet of Poto village in North Moyo district, Sumbawa Besar, West Nusa Tenggara. Siti said she was generally satisfied with the current harvest season, which saw an increase in the selling price of unhusked rice from Rp 365,000 per quintal to Rp 380,000 per quintal.

In addition to the Jakarta administration, the same pattern should also be developed by other cities, such as Surabaya in East Java, Palembang in South Sumatra, Denpasar in Bali and Semarang in Central Java.

According to Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman, urban food security is pursued by identifying commodities needed by the people, then mapping the ability of the surrounding areas to produce food. He gave an example of the Jakarta and its satellite cities of Bogor, Bekasi and Depok in West Java and Tangerang in Banten.

"Lampung supplies fruits and vegetables; West Java supplies chicken, eggs and rice; and Banten supplies corn," he said.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

A worker stores shallots on Monday (4/29/2019) at a PD Pasar Jaya warehouse equipped with Controlled Atmosphere Storage (CAS) technology at Kramat Jati Central Market. The warehouse stores surplus stock of shallots and chilies for three to six months for releasing the two highly sought commodities when prices soar.

Sufficient food supply is important for Jakarta, where 98 percent of the food is supplied from outside the region. The Jakarta administration’s economic and financial assistant, Sri Haryati, said Jakarta had made agricultural contracts with producing regions to ensure a steady and constant supply.

According to the director of food and agriculture at Bappenas, R Anang Noegroho Setyo Moeljono, urban food security is a main part of the national medium-term development plan (RPJMN) 2020-2024.

In the plan, food security is maintained by strengthening food availability and access. The logistics chain continues to be improved so that distribution can be done more smoothly. (KRN/JUD/IRE/NSA/FLO/OKA/SYA/ITA/NIK/TAM/IDO)