Jakarta: The Indonesian government does not have a food reserve plan in place given the dynamics of food prices at times, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan has informed.
Minister Hasan cited eggs as an example, whose price moves up and down based on demand. The same is the case with the prices of chilies and chicken meat, which often fluctuate based on supply.
"Chickens lay eggs today. If the demand is high tomorrow, the price will go up. If the demand is low tomorrow, the price will go down. Slice the chicken today—the price is good in the morning. It drops at 9 a.m.; as the day goes, the price goes down. So, if it doesn't sell, the chicken becomes bad. Next day, slice chicken again. If you harvest chilies, sell them today. (If) they won't sell tomorrow, they become bad. So, we don't have a plan for food stocks," he said at a webinar on “Polemic on Rice Imports at the End of the Year,” which was accessed online from here on Tuesday.
A food reserve plan is very important to ensure that there is food supply for everyone, the minister noted. In some developed countries, even Middle Eastern countries, governments have built food reserves of two to three months.
"If you go to Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, developed countries, there are food stocks for two months, three months. We have none. All we have is rice; even rice looks like that now," Hasan pointed out.
The minister said he expected the National Food Agency to address the issue. He is targeting to set up large cold storages in Indonesia so that food stocks can be stored safely.
"This will be fixed in stages. We will try to make sure we have food stocks, have a large cold storage so we have food stocks for approximately one month. If not a month, maybe two weeks at first. If two weeks (can be) passed, three weeks passed, well then one month. Ideally, we have a month and a half food stock," he added.
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