Food Sector Development Requires New, Innovative Ways: President Jokowi
President Jokowi delivers his opening remarks at the 5th Jakarta Food Security Summit (JFSS) 2020 (via video conference), Wednesday (18/11) (Presidential Secretariat PR)
Global community’s enormous need for food creates an opportunity for food sector development. The development must be carried out not only to respond to food crisis possibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic but also to deal with the growing demand for food as the impact of increasing world population.
The statement was made by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo during the opening of the 5th Jakarta Food Security Summit (JFSS) 2020 (via video conference), Wednesday (18/11).
On the occasion, the President encouraged and supported the food sector development. “The development requires new, innovative ways which aims to increase the efficiency of production process, to produce good quality food at affordable prices, to improve environmental carrying capacity, and make farmers more prosperous,” he added.
President Jokowi also urged business players in the food sector to leave behind the old paradigm and to take a leap by adopting new methods and increasing the scale of production. In addition, farmer corporations should be used as the basis for food sector development.
The development must be carried out by prioritizing added value at the on-farm and off-farm phases and adopting modern technology that is more efficient and more productive in order to improve farmers’ welfare and also supporting sectors. “I hope that entrepreneurs who join the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) will be part of these new methods,” he said.
President Jokowi, on that event, praised the inclusive closed loop cooperation system that initiated by the Kadin. Through this scheme, partnership between farmers and business ecosystems is built starting from upstream to downstream to maintain production sustainability and make farmers more prosperous.
“I support various collaborative initiatives involving farmers, cooperatives, banks and offtakers,” the President said, adding that several ongoing collaborative initiatives that increase productivity and added value for farmers must be replicated in other areas.
Furthermore, President Jokowi also ordered the Kadin to continue to provide assistance to millions of independent farmers in order to create mutually beneficial partnerships among farmers and food entrepreneurs.
“I believe the Kadin will be able to achieve the target. I really hope that the inclusive collaborative business model can boost the food sector as a new economic power that provide more jobs and becomes a source of welfare for all Indonesian people,” he concluded. (PR) (GWH/MMB)
