Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
sification has even been formally promoted through a Presidential Regulation (No.
22 of 2009) aimed at accelerating the diversification of food consumption based on
local resource availability.
Addressing food accessibility for households in Indonesia: the
RASKIN rice-for-the-poor programme
The preceding discussion has emphasized the continued policy preference for a
production-oriented approah to food security in Indonesia (stressing food availab-
ility at various scales). This preference is encapsulated both in a rural future of loc-
alized food self-sufficiency, as envisioned by SPI, as well as in the grandiose food
estates of Central Kalimantan in the 1990s, and MIFEE more recently in Papua. This
is not to say that food accessibility has been entirely neglected in the Indonesian
policy arena. During the New Order, BULOG played a key role in stabilizing food
prices at the consumer level to promote accessibility. Following the 1997/98 financial
crisis, and more critically following the declining fiscal importance of oil revenues,
Indonesia has been required to adopt policies and programmes that more strategic-
ally target intended recipients. Politically, social welfare programmes have been ne-
cessary to offset the poverty impacts resulting from the gradual dismantling of fuel
subsidies. Foremost amongst these are the Direct Cash Transfers (
Bantuan Lang-
sung Tunai
); the PNPM Mandiri Community Development Programme (
Program
Nasional Pengembangan Masyarakat
); and the Rice-for-the-Poor programme (
Beras
Miskin
, or
RASKIN
), along with free education and the improvement of healthcare
facilities for the poor, all of whih have been put in place to explicitly support an
improvement in the state of food security in the country.
he
RASKIN
programme, introduced in 2002 as a substitute for BULOG's 'market
operation' ceiling price policy, is designed to reduce the severe impacts of economic
crisis by providing a ration of medium-grade rice (varying, but set at about 20 kilo-
grams per month) to targeted poor households.
RASKIN
is jointly implemented by
BULOG and managed by Indonesia's National Development Planning Board (Bap-
penas). In 2007, the programme provided 1.9 tonnes of rice for 15.8 million poor
households at a total cost of US$690 million to the national budget, with further ad-
ditional costs incurred by regional governments to implement distribution (SMERU,
2008). Beneficiary households were initially identified by the National Family Plan-
ning Agency (BKKBN) based on indicators suh as food intake, housing, clothing,
and medical needs, and religious practices. More recently, results of the BPS House-
