Indonesia caught in wheat
trap
Subejo, Yogyakarta | Opinion | Thu, July 11 2013, 8:50 AMAt least since the early 1970s, processed wheat-based foods have become part of daily consumption in Indonesia. Instant noodles are the most popular processed wheat-based food item, not only in urban but also in rural areas.
Searching several sources, the history of wheat in Indonesia began in 1969 when the United States introduced an economic cooperation package under Public Law 480 (PL480) that extended food assistance or humanitarian food aid in the form of wheat flour or wheat to Indonesia.
Even though this humanitarian relief no longer exists, due to some flexibility in wheat processing, suitability of food taste and practicality in consumption, many Indonesians have come to love these processed wheat products.
The involvement of the large wheat-processing industry has been significant. Wheat can be processed into various foods, such as instant noodles, bread, cakes and pasta, or combined with local materials and food items.
A new problem arose, however, because Indonesia has a tropical climate, meaning that it cannot produce wheat. As a consequence, it has to import wheat and wheat flour from producing countries.
Sadly, public awareness of the country’s high dependence on wheat imports is low, despite the fact that such imports have reached an alarming level. The latest official data reveals that imports of wheat and wheat flour exceed 7 million tons, totaling Rp 25 trillion (US$2.52 billion). This amount outweighs the state budget allocation for agricultural development in 2013, which was set at Rp 16.4 trillion.
The public at large and Indonesian scholars have tended to only focus on yearly rice imports. As we have seen, rice imports have always ignited sociopolitical tension. However, they overlook wheat and processed wheat imports, which are much greater than rice imports in terms of economic value.
Data from the Agriculture Ministry in 2009 found that rice and processed rice imports in 2008 reached 2.89 million tons at a cost of $130 million. Wheat and processed wheat imports in the same period hit 5.1 million tons, costing the country $2.3 billion.
A report by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), released this year, says that in 2010 Indonesia imported 770,000 tons of wheat flour to become the second-largest wheat flour importation country after Iraq. Indonesia’s wheat imports amounted to the fifth-largest total in the world for the same period with 4.81 million tons.
Leo Kusuma (2012) discovered that Indonesia’s processed wheat per capita consumption only reached 8.1 kilograms per year in 1980, but it swelled to 21.2 kilograms in 2010. Within 20 years, per capita consumption of wheat has increased by more than 200 percent.
Assuming that the wheat consumption growth remains steady at about 6 percent annually, the per capita consumption of wheat by 2050 is expected to reach 22.4 kilograms, or 2 kilograms per capita per month, which would be alarming and even dangerous for the future of the country’s food security.
As reported by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2012, the wheat preference in Indonesia is for white wheat as the main material of instant noodles and other processed food products. Indonesia mainly imports wheat from Australia (75 percent), Canada (15 percent) and the US (9 percent) as well as several other producing countries.
Putting a stop to what imports is impossible for Indonesia as international free trade agreements will not permit it. Therefore, Indonesia should search for an appropriate strategy to reduce its dependence on wheat imports, or else it will hurt its own agricultural and food production aimed at reaching food security.
A series of research studies have found several places in Indonesia that are suitable for the cultivation of particular wheat crops. Central and local governments and research institutes, including universities, need to intensify and advance their studies into wheat development in the country. Moreover, the involvement and support from local farmers and farmer groups is crucial to ensure that the production of national wheat has a future.
The flour-based food industry in Indonesia should also be encouraged to use locally produced flour variants, such as buckwheat or sorgum, cassava, sago and so on. Indonesia is blessed with vast dry land to grow and produce many kinds of flour.
During my recent visit to villages surrounding the Gajah Mungkur Dam in the Central Java town of Wonogiri, I discovered that sorgum was a promising crop that could help Indonesia reach food security and enhance farmers’ livelihoods. Sorgum is a type of water-resistant crop that needs less water even when other crops cannot be cultivated. It can be harvested in less than 90 days and needs only minimal tending. In addition, sorgum is highly resistant to pests. So, by rotating crops, sorgum could become a safety-net crop during a long dry season.
The challenges facing sorgum farmers are a less developed market as well as less knowledge and fewer skills to process food. Partnerships between farmers and the food industry and incentives to improve production are all that the farmers need.
A proper combination of wheat flour and locally produced flour for the food industry, both large-scale and household industries, will significantly increase the demand for local food materials that would benefit local farmers.
An important strategy for quitting the wheat trap is education and advocacy on food diversification and food consumption behavior. Introducing various locally produced and processed foods during school lunches in play groups, kindergartens and elementary schools would be an effective way to implant new food consumption behavior.
Innovation in food regulations would also play a pivotal role. For instance, the local administration in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, has issued a bylaw that requires government agencies to stop serving snacks made of wheat for formal and official meetings. As a result, demand for locally produced food has increased in favor of local producers.
If other regions were to follow suit or if the central government adopted and enforced the policy nationally, farmers and the national food industry would reap significant benefits, and the nation’s dependency on food imports would be addressed.
The writer is a researcher at the Center for Economic and Public Policy Studies (CEPPS) at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Yogyakarta.
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