VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Executive Secretary of the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K) Bambang Widianto, Wednesday (14/10/2020), in a virtual seminar, said that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Indonesia's efforts to tackle stunting.

"The problem of stunting is directly proportional to the need for food security and nutrition. These two things have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

Therefore, he said that to ensure food and nutrition security continues amid the pandemic, the central government invites all parties, including regional governments, to develop types of local food.

"Due to the complexity of food insecurity and nutrition, a concerted effort across the government is needed to tackle it. This needs an active role on the behalf of the local government to enhance local food," Bambang continued.

This suggests that local government could play a larger role in complementing the central government stunting reduction effort by focusing on nutrition-specific intervention and accommodating local problems.

"Enhancing food security and nutritions calls for cooperation between many stakeholders. It requires not just coordinated effort across ministries but also beyond as local government should also take an active role in stunting elevation,".

Furthermore, Bambang Widianto said that the COVID-19 pandemic also impacted the national economy. This has resulted in a decrease in people's income and weakening purchasing power.

Even so, the government has taken steps to deal with it, one of which is through the provision of several social assistance programs to affected communities.

"The provision of social assistance must also be in line with increasing public awareness of nutrition and good nutrition practices," said Bambang.

Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics show that in the first quarter of 2020, the poverty rate in Indonesia increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 9.22 percent in September 2019 to 9.78 percent in March 2020.

BPS also noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of poor people in Indonesia to over 2 million people. (VOI)