Agriculture Minister Reports Food Sustainability to UN Rapporteur

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman met with Special Rapporteur of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on the Rights to Food, Hilal Elver, in Jakarta today.

During the meeting at the Agriculture Ministry’s office, Amran reported th country's efforts to increase food in Indonesia, especially crops produced by rainfed farmlands.

“We delivered Indonesia’s efforts to increase food, which they appreciated,” Amran said after the meeting.

To Hilal, Amran explained about the efforts to optimize rainfed farmlands and arable lands, as well as somelands, which were done by—among others—building retention basins, pumps, and deep as well as shallow wells. 

Read: Indonesia Achieves Top 25 Food Sustainability Index

Those methods, he said, managed to boost the output of rainfed crops by 50 percent. “In the past we only planted once. Now we can plant twice. In the future, we will plant three times by utilizing rainwater technology,” he said.

According to OHCR.org, Hilal will be in Indonesia until April 18. His visit aims at collecting reports about the Indonesian government’s policies on food self-sufficiency and sustainability.

On the last day of his stay, Hilal will hold a press conference for a Q&A session about the policies. He will also give recommendations for said policies through a presentation before the UN’s Human Rights Council in 2019. 

ZARA AMELIA