Transforming food systems, Indonesia agriculture shows its resilience against the pandemics impact
Jakarta/Rome
Indonesian Minister of Agriculture Syahril Yasin Limpo reiterated Indonesia commitment to continue to transform Indonesia’s agrifood systems into a more “inclusive, resilient and sustainable“. The commitment was stated in his remarks at the Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO) 42nd biennial virtual conference.
Limpo highlighted Indonesia agriculture sector resilient against the pandemic impact is the result of food systems transformation policy that has been taken place since 2019, based on the Food Law number 18/2012.
“We apply five strategies for transforming the systems including increasing production capacity sustainably, diversify local food, strengthening of food reserves and logistics, developing modern agriculture and increasing export commodities,”
The agriculture sector, the second-largest contributor to Indonesia’s economy, managed to grow 16.24 percent in the second quarter of 2020 q –to- q, and about 2.59 percent year-on-year (yoy) in the fourth quarter. Most other sectors, such as transportation and warehousing, suffered steep declines as a result of pandemic-related restrictions.
Indonesia will continue to transform the food systems through a more innovative agriculture in advanced, independent and modern manner
_“We will continue to consistently encourage the transformation of the food systems into a more modern one, supported by technology and artificial intelligence in a holistic and integrated manner through the development of a digital agricultural ecosystem,”_Limpo said
In this conference, Indonesia was elected as member of FAO council 2021 -2024 a long with Bangladesh, China, Japan, Philippines, and Souh Korea from the Asia Region. Indonesia was member of FAO council for 2012 -2014 and 2015-2018 .
The Council is the executive organ of the Conference. It exercises powers delegated to it by the Conference and meets at least three times between regular Conference sessions. The Council comprises 49 Member Nations each elected by the Conference for a three-year term with one-third of the membership standing down each year.
Innovation is key to tackling hunger and climate change
The importance of innovation was also highlighted by FAO Director General, Qu Dong Yu, at a high level round table. Innovation is needed across the entire spectrum of value chains in the world’s agri-food systems in order to respond to the two big challenges of climate change and hunger.
We have to produce more with less – more quantity, more quality and more diversity. We need to move from biodiversity to food diversity,” the Director-General said at the event. “We want to build a real sustainable systems from the producer to the consumer -where Zero Waste has to be the New Norm,” he said.
The high-level panellists agreed on the importance of harnessing innovation, technology and data in a way to benefit the entire food systems, helping both farmers and consumers in terms of hunger, nutrition and natural resource utilization.
The Conference takes place every two years and is FAO's supreme governing body. It determines the policies of the Organization, approves the budget, and makes recommendations to Members on food and agriculture issues.
For the first time ever, the FAO Conference is held in virtual mode. The opening session saw a record-breaking number of participants from around the world - over 1,300 people, including 119 Ministers and Vice Ministers.