Indonesia's Food Imports Includes Most Staple Food Items

November 7, 2024 | 07:15 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia is known for its abundance of natural resources, especially in the agricultural sector. But despite this enormous potential, the country still relies on imports to meet its domestic demand for nine staple foods, also known as sembako.

As one of the world's largest food importers, Indonesia is always vulnerable to price volatility and global food protectionism. However, this food import policy is supposed to maintain price stability and ensure adequate supply for the community.

The following are five staple foods that Indonesia routinely imports.

1. Rise

Yusuf Wibisono, director of the Next Policy research institute, expressed concern about national food security this year. Based on the 2024 national rice balance projection updated in May, Indonesia is estimated to import up to 5.17 million tons of rice this year. "This is a clear indication that national food security is in a worrying situation," Yusuf said in his official statement on Tuesday, July 30.

The actual volume of rice imports from January to April 2024 was recorded at 1.77 million tons, while the import plan for the period from May to December 2024 is estimated to reach 3.40 million tons. Yusuf stressed that this situation reflects a worrying trend, considering that the total rice imports in 2023 were only 3.06 million tons. If this projection is realized, the amount of rice imports this year will reach a record high, surpassing the amount of rice imports in 1999, which reached 4.75 million tons.

2. Garlic

A report from the National Food Agency (Bapanas) on February 23, 2024, showed that the stock of garlic at the State Logistics Agency Perum Bulog was only 0.21 tons, while the monthly demand reached 55,668 tons. In response, the government decided to increase the garlic import quota to 645,025 tons, higher than the import realization in 2023 and 2022, which were around 588,000 tons and 574,000 tons, respectively.

This dependence on imports occurs because domestic garlic production is insufficient. Almost all of Indonesia's garlic consumption needs, which reach about 651 thousand tons per year, still have to be met by imports.

3. Salt

Salt production in Indonesia is currently used only for domestic consumption. This is because the quality of local salt does not meet the 97-98 percent NaCl purity standard required by the industrial sector, according to research cited by proceeding.s2.upi.edu. The industry's demand for salt with purity levels above 97 percent encourages the government to continue to rely on imports. The amount of salt imports varies from year to year; in 2023, Indonesia's total salt imports reached 2.8 million tons.

4. Meat

State-owned food company ID Food has started procuring 20,000 tons of imported beef from Brazil, which is expected to arrive gradually after this year's Eid al-Fitr celebration. For the whole of 2024, ID Food has been mandated by the government through the National Food Agency (Bapanas) to import 20,000 tons of beef from Brazil.

Although ID Food has not been able to confirm the initial quota of beef that will arrive after Eid, as this involves the procurement team, the company is also responsible for balancing the national beef supply towards the end of the year. This measure is aimed at preventing potential beef shortages in early 2025.

5. Milk

The Agriculture Ministry plans to import one million dairy cows in the period 2025-2029 to fulfill the domestic demand for fresh milk, including supporting the free nutrition program.

This plan is included in the presentation material of Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman on the Roadmap for Meeting Fresh Milk Demand for 2025-2029, which was presented at a working meeting with the House of Representatives' Commission IV in Jakarta on Tuesday.

According to the roadmap, dairy cows will be imported from countries such as Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, the United States and Mexico. The Ministry of Agriculture expects the national demand for fresh milk to reach 8.5 million tons in 2029, including 4.9 million tons for regular consumption and 3.6 million tons for the free nutritious meal program, one of President Prabowo Subianto's priority programs.

The import plan and milk production target until 2029 includes 200,000 cows in 2025 with a milk production of 1.55 million tons, increasing to 300,000 cows in 2026 with a production of 2.90 million tons, and 400,000 cows in 2027 with a production target of 2.07 million tons.

SHARISYA KUSUMA RAHMANDA | ANNISA FABIOLA | SUKMA KANTHI NURANI | ANTARA

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