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resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo started his medium-term program to deliver on his election campaign promise to achieve food self-sufficiency by embarking on the rehabilitation of irrigation systems in South Sulawesi early this month.

But his remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony to the effect that Indonesia would be able to end rice imports within two years could convey a misleading message about the meaning of food security.

Food security is a highly politicized problem, often confused with food self-sufficiency and food sovereignty. As rice is the country'€™s main staple, self-sufficiency in rice could become a matter of national prestige. But while the country could be successful in terms of producing its own food, achieving self-sufficiency in rice is more difficult.

The rice produced in several areas could be too expensive, leaving low-income households vulnerable. Today, even in rural areas, the majority of people are net rice buyers, making the poor vulnerable to price fluctuations.

Food security should be made part of a broad-based agricultural development program with the ultimate objective of increasing rural household incomes both from farm and off-farm activities.

The concept thus aims at empowering the farmers'€™ economy and the rural community through the development of rural and farm infrastructure. After all, more than 55 percent of the total population still lives on farming in rural areas. Of utmost importance is to make the integrated agricultural development an ongoing process '€” irrespective of the volatility in food commodity prices '€” by pouring more investments into such basic rural and farm infrastructure as roads, marketplaces, transportation and research stations and farm technical-extension services designed to meet area-specific conditions.

Indeed it may be impossible for such a vast archipelagic country with a population of more than 240 million and an annual national consumption of 35 million tons '€” which keeps increasing '€” to secure rice self-sufficiency.

Consumption is steady all through the year while the rice harvest takes place only twice a year in Java and mostly once on other islands, which do not have sufficient irrigation networks.

As the national staple, and the main food of the poor, rice is also the most politically charged commodity. The problem is that rice remains a thinly traded commodity '€” most countries grow what they eat and only 5 to 10 percent of global production is traded internationally.

The government therefore needs to continue its policy of managing a national rice stockpile through the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to prevent wide rice-price fluctuation in times of production falls or big supply surpluses. Overly high prices will hit the majority of people, including small farmers, while prices that are too low will hurt producers.

When national production falls due to unfavorable weather or pest attack, Bulog can import to fill the shortage or buy from farmers when local prices fall sharply.

But we need a political consensus on allocating adequate financing for Bulog to fund its food-stock operations and management.