VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Government underlined the need for initiatives to bolster food resilience in small islands at the Second G20 Sherpa Meeting in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara.

There is a need for such initiatives in small islands in the Pacific region, one of them is Fiji, Secretary General of the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture Kasdi Subagyono noted here on Wednesday.

The G20 Sherpa Meeting is a forum attended by G20 member countries to discuss issues related to energy, development, tourism, digital economy, education, labor, agriculture, trade, investment, industry, health, anti-corruption, environment, and climate change.

G20 is an international forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union that work together to handle major issues. Indonesia is holding the presidency of the grouping this year.

So far, the effort to bolster food resilience has been focused on strengthening human resources, training, and creating pilot projects in Pacific countries for technology innovation transformation.

On its own, Indonesia has made quite a large contribution to bolstering food resilience, he remarked.

The country’s exports of agricultural machinery and infrastructure to places such as Fiji in the past few years demonstrate this contribution, he highlighted.

In addition, the country has invited farmers from overseas to undergo rice-related training at the Rice Research Major Center in Subang, West Java.

These efforts were enthusiastically welcomed by the G20 Sherpa participants, especially the concrete ideas for bolstering food resilience in small islands, Subagyono said.

The Indonesian government realizes that small islands, such as the ones in Indonesia, are very vulnerable when it comes to food resilience.

If food resilience is not bolstered, then people would face difficulty in meeting their food needs because they will have to wait for supplies from other islands, he explained.

The second G20 Sherpa meeting in Labuan Bajo was held from July 10–13, 2022, and was directly attended by 19 member country delegations, and representatives of nine invited countries and 10 international organizations.

One G20 member country, the United States, attended the meeting virtually. (Antaranews)