Trade Ministry within for food solutions

Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan says he will look within the country to strengthen the domestic food market, which means that Indonesia’s food production capacity must be raised.

“In terms of food, we have to refer to the priority principles to improve and strengthen the domestic market. As I have said yesterday, we have to improve and strengthen our domestic [production] capacity,” he said on Friday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

To make such plans possible, Gita said he would focus on making breakthrough policies to help increase food productivity.

He said that Indonesia’s food production was lower than that of neighboring countries, while its consumption level, of rice for example, was higher than its neighbors.

“We must also realize that our rice consumption is relatively higher. If I’m not mistaken, the agriculture ministry’s data shows 140 kiloliters per person per year,” he said.

According to Gita, apart from cranking up productions, the government should also educate the people about consumptive behavior to avoid another food crisis in the country