Have you ever heard the saying, "Indonesians eat nothing but rice?" It turns out that's almost 100 percent true. Looking at average household consumption in 2019, BPS data shows that rice is the highest source of energy and carbohydrates, at 94.9 kg per capita per year. This equates to approximately 2.5 million tons of rice needed per month to meet this need. However, as time goes by, rice consumption patterns have slowly shifted toward wheat.
President Jokowi's administration has issued a policy to create rice fields in the Food Estate project , one of which is in Central Kalimantan Province, to anticipate food shortages in the face of a possible long drought and to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, which is said to threaten national rice production.
This project has received a barrage of criticism and condemnation from various civil society and environmental organizations, including rejection from indigenous communities, considering a similar project during President Soeharto's administration, namely the indiscriminate clearing of one million hectares of peatland (PLG) which ended in the worst ecological crisis in this country.
Efforts to convert peatlands from naturally wet to dry for food crops like rice are a major source of peatland degradation. Dry peatlands are highly susceptible to fire, spread rapidly, are difficult to extinguish, and often produce smoke pollution and emissions into the atmosphere. Some observers have called these food estate projects populist, hastily implemented without adequate analysis of their future impacts.
READ ALSO: Economic Growth, Food Security, and Ecosystem Balance
Despite the extensive development by food crop researchers to support restoration and revitalization efforts in the community economy, wet peatlands can still be a mainstay in food production, one of which is sago. There are several strong factors that make this plant, called rumbia, considered the most profitable. Sago adapts to almost all types of land, including peat, and requires no special treatment and minimal external inputs, unlike other food crops, thus reducing production costs.
Sago in Peatlands: Optimizing the Upstream Section
The question then becomes, how can sago save Indonesia's food supply, which has historically relied on rice, while also playing a role in preserving peatland ecosystems? To examine this, it's important to consider the communities living on peatlands, who are highly dependent on rice for their staple food. As previously explained, sago can be an alternative to rice. This is precisely what's happening in Papua.
Planted peatland must be cultivated on cultivated land, which is intended for productivity and community well-being, not in conservation and protected areas, which should be used to maintain the ecosystem. Implementation in the field must meet sustainability standards, which encompass three simple aspects:
Firstly, the ecological aspect, how to keep the peat wet according to its original characteristics,
The second relates to the social role in which indigenous peoples and local communities are also involved in a participatory manner.
Finally, the planting practice, the length of the harvest period ranging from 8 to 12 years, needs to be regulated in terms of planting time, seed adjustments, natural fertilizers and, of course, this has an impact on the sustainability of the resulting profitability.
Sago as an Option: Working from Downstream
Indonesia accounts for 83 percent of the world's sago plantations, covering over 5 million hectares and with a potential annual production of one hundred million tons (Nasution, 2020). This opportunity indicates that if sago is optimized, particularly for the portion of the population that consumes it, it can balance the dominance of rice as a staple food in the country.
The government's low commitment to developing sago is evident from the failure to absorb sago production in the Tohor River, Riau, for local food, and the abundant supply is piling up due to export constraints due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) is actively developing sago-based products as a wheat substitute. This is due to Indonesians' demand as the second-highest consumer of instant noodles in the world. Furthermore, numerous innovative breakthroughs have been made incorporating sago flour as a substitute for wheat flour in noodles, cakes, and other wheat-based foods.
The most challenging challenge in marketing sago in Indonesia is the continued strength of rice politics, as well as farmer and import mafias seeking to profit from declining production. The COVID-19 outbreak has taught us that planting directly on land closest to the community is the most efficient food source.
READ ALSO: Promoting Agroedutourism Business
In terms of market price, sago flour is more expensive than rice and wheat, with the price difference being as much as twofold. Price competitiveness can be achieved through massive increases in production and consumption, making it more affordable.
Various aspects needed to support sago from both upstream and downstream are supporting infrastructure and intensive training for communities participating in the cultivation and processing of sago into ready-to-eat food.
Steps Forward with Sustainable Madani
The government's reliance on a single food source cannot be separated from the government's equating staple food with rice, which has resulted in a much higher priority for rice development over other local foods. However, initiatives to diversify food choices, particularly at the community and regional levels, are currently being encouraged, particularly during the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in peatland areas. In addition to infrastructure development and community support, breakthrough policies and programs are also needed that boldly promote sago as a daily food, such as the development of integrated areas focused on production, processing, and marketing.
Together with Madani Berkelanjutan, a creative and appropriate sago campaign on cultivated peatlands is one of the most feasible efforts, through an approach to young people who are currently booming on social media, one of which is the #tiktokchallange or the creation of visual content in promoting sago as an alternative food substitute for rice.
At the local level, campaigns based on local wisdom, culture, and history can be relied upon to encourage residents to participate in sago cultivation and consumption. At the same time, they can also encourage understanding of local food resources and ecosystem restoration, while simultaneously helping to restore the local economy post-COVID-19.
By: Andika Julianto Trilaksana
Environmental activist Youth for Peatland
