Jakarta – The federal government’s food support, in the form of rice, is currently in the product packaging process before being dispersed to around 21.35 million beneficiaries, according to Head of the National Food Agency (NFA), Arief Prasetyo Adi.
” We will quickly disperse the food assistance until the next three months, with a target of 21.35 million beneficiaries in accordance with the database of the Social Affairs Ministry,” Adi noted in his statement here on Sunday.
The agency head said that the federal government had actually entrusted the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) with dispersing the support to the beneficiaries.
According to Adi, food assistance is a follow-up to President Joko Widodo’s instructions to maintain food stability and suppress inflation.
Under the food help program, each recipient will receive 10 kgs of rice for 3 months, from March to May 2023.
The NFA head noted that the present variation in rice prices is putting pressure on consumers, specifically people from the low-income group. To this end, the food help can serve as a buffer to guarantee good-quality rice for individuals.
To offer support to the 21.35 million recipients, some 630 thousand tons of rice are needed. Adi worried that rice for the assistance is sourced from the government rice reserves (CBP).
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The NFA encouraged Bulog to maximally absorb the production outcomes of local farmers during the harvest season, in accordance with the president’s instructions. Through the NFA, the government has actually entrusted Bulog with taking in 2.4 million lots of rice in 2023.
Apart from rice, chicken meat and eggs will likewise be dispersed however only to 1.46 million beneficiaries that are at threat of stunting based upon information of the National Population and Household Preparation Company (BKKBN).
The circulation of help of chicken meat and eggs is targeted to begin before Eid al-Fitr and will be managed by state-owned food holding business ID FOOD.
To this end, Adi revealed optimism that an incorporated food environment can be built where an upstream-downstream synergy can be kept.
On the upstream side, the products of farmers, breeders, and fishers can be taken in through ID FOOD as the off-taker.
On the downstream side, various federal government programs, such as the removal of stunting and addressal of food security problems in susceptible regions, can be carried out well.
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