Indonesia is the main pillar for the creation of food resilience in the ASEAN region, vice rector of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), Hermanto Siregar said here on Monday.

“Indonesia plays a very strategic role with regard to creating food resilience in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. As the region`s biggest country with the biggest population Indonesia is a key factor for creating food resilience in the region,” he said on the sidelines of a national conference of the Indonesian Agriculture Economy Association.

Prof Hermanto who is also an economic adviser of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Indonesia with its big potentials is in the ASEAN front line with regard to creating food resilience.

“In the next several years Indonesia will play an important role in creating food resilience in the ASEAN region,” he said.

He said if its national food resilience could be achieved it would give a big effect to food resilience in the region.

“Right now Indonesia has a food surplus but it is not yet significant so that the situation is still volatile and potential to import is still big to meet domestic demand,” he said.

He said he was optimistic in the next two to three years the national food stock would be abundant in line with the hard work of the government in increasing various food commodities including rice and others.

To realize food resilience there are at least three pillars that need to be build, he said, namely food availability, access and stability. He said if the three pillars are met a country will be able to realize food resilience.

“With the big potentials that it has Indonesia has the capacity and opportunity to realize food resilience at home and in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region,” he said.

Source: Antara News

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