VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): The government's food assistance, in the form of rice, is currently in the packaging process before being distributed to around 21.35 million beneficiaries, according to Head of the National Food Agency (NFA), Arief Prasetyo Adi.

"We will soon distribute the food assistance until the next three months, with a target of 21.35 million beneficiaries in accordance with the database of the Social Affairs Ministry," Adi noted in his statement here on Sunday.

The agency head remarked that the government had tasked the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) with distributing the assistance to the beneficiaries.

According to Adi, food assistance is a follow-up to President Joko Widodo's direction to maintain food stability and suppress inflation.

Under the food assistance program, each beneficiary will receive 10 kilograms of rice for three months, from March to May 2023.

The NFA head noted that the current fluctuation in rice prices is putting pressure on consumers, especially people from the low-income group. To this end, the food assistance can serve as a buffer to ensure good-quality rice for the people.

To provide assistance to the 21.35 million recipients, some 630 thousand tons of rice are needed. Adi stressed that rice for the assistance is sourced from the government rice reserves (CBP).

Hence, the NFA encouraged Bulog to maximally absorb the production results of local farmers during the harvest season, in accordance with the president's direction. Through the NFA, the government has tasked Bulog with absorbing 2.4 million tons of rice in 2023.

Apart from rice, chicken meat and eggs will also be distributed but only to 1.46 million beneficiaries that are at risk of stunting based on data of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN).

The distribution of assistance of chicken meat and eggs is targeted to start before Eid al-Fitr and will be managed by state-owned food holding company ID FOOD.

To this end, Adi expressed optimism that an integrated food ecosystem can be built where an upstream-downstream synergy can be maintained.

On the upstream side, the products of farmers, breeders, and fishers can be absorbed through ID FOOD as the off-taker.

Meanwhile, on the downstream side, various government programs, such as the eradication of stunting and addressal of food security problems in vulnerable regions, can be implemented well. (Antaranews)