Achieving Food Security through Sustainable Agriculture
Lampung, February 17, 2022—The fulfillment of good quality food with affordable prices for the
people is the duty of a country. And Indonesia is also expected to be able to establish
a condition of food security with good quality. In order to create a public
discussion in how Indonesia's efforts to achieve this, the University of
Lampung held a national conference that discussed Achieving Food Security
through Sustainable Agriculture. The event which was held in the meeting hall
of the university was carried out with the concept of online and face-to-face,
presenting several significant resource persons.
This event was also attended by the Deputy Rector
for Academic Affairs, Prof. Dr. Heryandi, SH., MS., Director of Post Graduate,
Prof. Dr. Ir. Ahmad Saudi Samosir, MT., Deputies of Postgraduate Directors,
Head of Doctoral and Masters Study Programs, lecturers, and also students who were
members of the Indonesian Environmental Science Study Program Student
Association.
"The Indonesian government plans a
food estate which will become a national strategic program for 2020-2024. This
is an effort to achieve food security in Indonesia. So that with food security,
it is hoped that Indonesia can achieve sustainable national food
self-sufficiency," said the Director of the Postgraduate Program at the
University of Lampung in his opening remarks.
On the same occasion, Prof. Dr. Heryandi,
SH., also said that all elements must work together to find a way out in
creating better national food security, and Indonesia was also expected to
become an extraordinary food source. "Even though we have a lot of food
available, we must not ignore the quality and safety of food materials for
consumption by the community equally. Sustainability of food security also does
not affect environmental conditions such as damaging the environment,"
said Deputy Rector for Academic Affairs, University of Lampung.
In the discussion session, led by Tri
Umaryani, SP., M.Sc., Head of the Department of Cooperatives, MSME, Industry,
and Trade of West Lampung Regency, Dr. Ir. Musdhalifah Machmud, MT., Deputy for
Food and Agribusiness Coordination, Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for
Economic Affairs conveyed that President Joko Widodo's agenda as outlined in
the 2019-2024 national mid-term development plant was in the form of a vision
and mission that prioritized economic transformation through improving the
economic structures that are productive, independent, and competitive with
equitable and fairly distributed development. “The main objective of the food
security program is to achieve food availability, food affordability, food
safety, and quality. The government is committed to support and encourage the development
of a sustainable food and agriculture sector. By ensuring the provision and
ease of access to food for the community while still paying attention to the
welfare of farmers," explained the Deputy for Food and Agribusiness
Coordination, Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for the Economic Affairs.
Wahyu Wibowo, the Executive Director of
Cocoa Sustainability Partnership (CSP), as the next resource person, explained
that CSP strived for cocoa farmers to have high productivity with high incomes.
In order to create these conditions, support and enabling facilities such as
the provision of quality seeds and the best fertilizer for cocoa must be
prepared. So that farmers could develop into professional farmers who were able
to develop their plantation land to the fullest. Insan Syafaat, as Executive
Director of the Partnership for Indonesia's Sustainable Agriculture (PISAgro),
said that farmers and ranchers were expected not only to become individuals,
but also to be part of the village community. "Therefore, PISAgro also
helps farmers and ranchers in the village to produce good and high-quality
commodities," he added.
At the end, Tri Umaryani concludes that national
food security was the noble goal of the Indonesian government to create a fair,
prosperous, and highly competitive Indonesian society. “Farmers need support
from various parties and adequate facilities to establish national food
security in realizing these noble ideals. We must work together to develop the
ideals of good food security," she concluded.