VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The Head of the National Food Agency (NFA), Arief Prasetyo Adi, has guaranteed the stability of food supply and prices ahead of Eid al-Adha, which will fall on June 29, 2023.

"Of course, we must monitor the movement of food supplies and prices, together with all stakeholders," he said in a statement released here on Monday.

Adi added that intervention is also needed through the cheap food movement and food distribution facilitation to anticipate an increase in demand ahead of Eid al-Adha.

He stated that the increase in demand during Eid al-Adha is an annual cycle, and the government must continue to ensure that supplies remain adequate and prices remain affordable to prevent scarcity, which could cause prices to skyrocket.

To this end, he affirmed that he has been continuing to strengthen collaboration with ministries and institutions, regional governments, state-owned enterprises (BUMN), regional-owned enterprises (BUMD), associations, and business players.

The efforts made under this collaboration have included boosting cheap food events, facilitating food distribution, and maximizing food assistance for low-income people.

"This cooperation is essential to encourage the building of connectivity between regions and enable all regions to identify their food potential and have an exit strategy to address the dynamics of food inflation and its challenges," he explained.

NFA has been emphasizing this collaboration at the inflation control national coordination meeting, which is held routinely by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Other instruments that could also support inflation control and maintain people's purchasing power are the distribution of food assistance, such as rice, chicken meat, and chicken eggs, to low-income individuals and families at risk of stunting.

The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) is conducting the third stage of rice assistance distribution, which has reached 67.9 percent or 14.49 million out of the targeted 21.35 million beneficiary families across Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the distribution of chicken meat and egg assistance, managed by the state-owned food holding company ID FOOD, has reached 93.1 percent or 1.346 million out of the total 1.464 million families at risk of stunting in the 7 provinces where stunting prevalence is quite high. (antaranews)