Rome – The Indonesian Minister of Agriculture is pushing the World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the auspices of the United Nations to actively assist partner countries in Africa and the Pacific that are still underdeveloped in food security.
This was conveyed by Minister of Defense Syahrul Yasin Limpo when meeting with FAO Deputy Director General Laurent Thomas (21/1) at the FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy.
“Indonesia has so far helped many partner countries in Africa,” said the Minister of Agriculture.
For example, he said, building training centers in Gambia and Tanzania, then making a pilot project for developing soybeans in Madagascar and rice in Sudan. Indonesia also sent hand tractor assistance to several pacific countries such as Fiji and Vanuatu.
“Indonesia has many experts in various fields who are ready to work with FAO to help partner countries in Africa and the Pacific,” Syahrul said.
During the meeting, Minister of Agriculture spoke eight important points as the position of Indonesian agriculture. First, Indonesia is pushing for closer cooperation with FAO as an international food organization, as one of the world’s largest producers of food sources, to meet national and world food.
The Minister of Agriculture also invited FAO to develop the Agriculture War Room (AWR) in Indonesia which functions as a control center for monitoring and evaluating the mobilization of agricultural resources. The Minister invited the entire FAO technical team to help Indonesia.
He wants to ensure stronger data validity and the achievement of more effective, efficient and international-standard production, which in its implementation is intensively guarded through Kostratani that has just been formed.
FAO is expected to play a role in balancing the market situation of agricultural products that tend to be discriminatory, and detrimental to developing countries as producers. Importing countries, which are generally developed countries, apply standards that often complicate and suppress the bargaining power of exporting countries, in this case especially oil palm for Indonesia.
The Minister of Agriculture supports the hand-in-hand initiative which is the new DG FAO program, which focuses on partnership programs between developed and developing countries to be able to progress together in various aspects of the agricultural business value chain.
Indonesia also invited FAO to jointly assist third countries in need of technical assistance, particularly capacity building through training centers that Indonesia had built in several African countries, such as Tanzania and Gambia.
FAO Deputy Director General Laurent Thomas, said FAO was very impressed with the Minister of Agriculture’s initiative in developing AWR. The initiative was considered in line with the FAO program.
The FAO team briefly presented the existing data management system at FAO such as AMIS, the use of GIS, early warning systems, and the use of other artificial intelligent technologies. FAO is fully committed to supporting Indonesia in the development of AWR and modern agricultural digitization programs in Indonesia.
During the meeting, the Minister of Agriculture also had the opportunity to review various data management system facilities owned by FAO.