Contra Food Concept

Reflection on Not Strong Draft National Food Concepf

Although in many international and national legislation the adequacy of healthy food has been secured, but the problem of hunger still haunt the nation of Indonesia. The increase in rice prices that the more the more day crawling up to add a note affordability blurred by pagan community among the poor.

International agreement that guarantees the right to obtain food is DUHAM / UDHR, the Constitution of FAO, ECOSOC Konvenan Right / ICESCR and RDWFS. Laws and regulations in Indonesia terpenuhinya ensure that the right to food is; Law. 7 / 1996, President Degree No.. 132/2001 on the establishment of the National Council of Food, No PP. 68/2002.

There are some basic core of a debate about the concept of food security and food sovereignty. If the concept of food security is only thinking about how food can be met in any way, including the import of foreign rice to meet food needs in the country, as had been the Vice President on February 13 that, that, to reduce the price of rice and stock availability food staple, namely rice, Indonesia will import some 500,000 tons of rice in 2007. Although the intention to import rice in the year 2006 got a very strong opposition from the farmers and civil society, the government again this year issued a policy that is not popular among the farmers.

The concept of food sovereignty is about how the food is determined by the community of independent, sovereign and sustainable. Food sovereignty is the right of each person, community groups and individual countries to determine their own agricultural policies, work-ketenaga, fisheries, food and land, which are ecological, social, economic and cultural conditions in accordance with their specific and regional. This involves the rights of real food and food production, so people have the right to safe food, adequate nutrition and suitable with local conditions and cultural rights to the resources to produce food and the ability to maintain the sustainability of their lives and communities.

The above has been declared by 400 delegates coming from the organization of farmers, indigenous peoples, fishermen, NGOs, social activists, academics and researchers from 60 countries at the World Summit on Food Kedaulatan (World Forum on Food Sovereignty) in Havana, Cuba on 3 to 7 September 2001. The concept of food sovereignty is then dimatangkan on the World Food Summit Peak (World Food Summit) on 8 to 13 June 2002, in Rome, attended by 700 civil society organizations worldwide.

The Government of Indonesia is likely to apply the concept of food security on the concept of food sovereignty. The establishment of the Food Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, to the District level is a translation of President Degree 132/2001. What ideally from the establishment of the food, the intention was initially quite good. We see only a draft Program of Action for Food Self-Village (PADMP), which was launched in 2005, for example, in the concept paper is very good and quite ideal, and even almost the same as the concept of food sovereignty is ideally civil society the world.

PADMP in the concept, to achieve food security in a region that has the facilities and infrastructure, integration of aspects of availability, distribution and consumption of food home. Developing rural areas, especially in terms of providing food for the population, the provision of manpower for the development, provision of raw materials for industry and produce commodities for export and food, is a little difference with the concept of food sovereignty.

However, in terms of the objectives of the program, namely, increasing food security and nutrition (the food security and nutrition) through community-pendaya use of resources, institutional and local rural culture to achieve food self-reliance village level. This objective is already good enough.

In fact, the field personnel (employees) who sits on the Board as a party food that the concept of a real existence in the field of food security is not at all understand about food security, especially in the District-District. This is evident when it held several seminars on food sovereignty and food security in some districts, and invited the Food District as participants and as speakers.

It is a bit odd that when we read the table of the Regency will be the target program PADMP. We will see how strange that when the District during this famine has never occurred, even likely seen as a rich district in the entry list in the akan sasar by this program. The dean example we can see the list on the table is Labuhan Batu regency in North Sumatra, which ranks first in the 2 villages in rural areas will be food independent. Not a local or villages during this condition exactly the experience that can Handling food ration for the implementation of the empowerment concept. While the concept is intended beneficiaries are rural food insecurity.


2 The concept of contradiction
Both what and how this concept? Which is better and beneficial for the community? Of a healthy food? How aspects of the production? Aspects of economic, trade, food politics, the welfare of farmers?

To further examine in this case, and which is best to apply need to see what the difference between the two concepts in the table below:


Source: adapted and developed from Peter Rosset, Food Sovereignty: Global Rallying Cry of Farmer Movement, Backgrounder, Vol. 9 Num. 4, 2003

Other Options
Seems to be in terms of autonomy and independence of the sovereign determine food for food menghempang political world that tends to the orientation that all sources of food is merely a commodity that will be able to give a big advantage if they are better we use an alternative concept, that is food sovereignty. Where is the placement of priority on food production for local markets and in the country that is based on the diversity of family farmers and small farmers and the systems of agricultural production that are ecological.

Guarantee a fair price to farmers, in the sense of strength to protect the internal market from the dumping of imported products valued lower. Access to land, water, forests, fisheries and regional resources through the program productive other re-distribution of resources that seutuhnya, not through market forces (reforma agrarian-oriented market that is supported by the world bank).

Awards and increasing the role of women in food production and access to a balanced, including source control in resource-production. Supervision is also done by the local community to the resources and productive at variance with ownership of land, water, genetic resources and other resources by foreign companies and large companies.

Protection of seeds as the basis of food and life itself, in the sense of exchange and use seeds freely among farmers. Thus, there is no patent on the organism and stop (moratorium) of the genetic engineering of plants that cause pollution to the genetic diversity of plant and animal genetics. Public investment in order to support the productive activities of families and communities that encourage development of a process, and supervision of local food production for the people and the local market. (This paper was published in the Daily ANALISA, Medan, 23 February 2007).

Iswan Kaputra
Deputy Director BITRA Indonesia Members of the Coalition for Food Kedaulatan (KRKP) National