An official from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that Indonesia faces a severe food shortage in the future, because food production will not be able to keep up with the rapidly growing population.
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Speaking at a seminar intended to observe World Food Day on 16 October, Shin Imae explained that an increase in Indonesia’s population growth rate can only have negative effects while its food production is stagnant, and that the government must increase effectiveness in the use of land and water in agriculture in order to maintain a sufficient food supply.
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Currently, he explained, around 50% of pregnant women in the country are suffering from malnutrition and the average Indonesian consumes less than 2,100 kcal a day, both indicators of a high rate of hunger.
At the same meeting, Agriculture Minister Bungaran Saragih explained that Indonesia’s food production had declined because of the large-scale conversions of farmland into sites for other economic activities.
