Be cautious when it comes to food affairs, food production. In January, only 3 countries stopped exporting foodstuffs and now, the number has increased to 22.Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) highlighted the current disruption of the global food supply chain during a get-together with volunteers in Jakarta on Saturday.
"Be cautious when it comes to food affairs, food production. In January, only 3 countries stopped exporting foodstuffs and now, the number has increased to 22," he said during the gathering with his Team Seven Volunteers at Econvention Ancol in North Jakarta.
Tens of countries have stopped exporting foodstuffs in order to meet their domestic needs, the President noted.
One of the countries is India, which has suspended wheat exports to protect domestic needs and check food-induced inflation, he said.
The countries have stopped food exports at a time when the world is facing a shortage of foodstuffs, such as wheat, due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world's largest wheat producers.
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Therefore, Indonesia which still imports a number of foodstuffs, including wheat, corn, and soybean, must remain wary about the state of the global food supply chain, he said.
However, Indonesia must thank God that it has not imported rice in the past three years, he added.
"Be careful with rice affairs. Usually, we import 2 million tons (of rice per year). But, we did not import it in the past three years. We must thank God (that we did not import rice) owing to the dams we have built," he said.
He said the construction of 29 dams out of the targeted 65 dams has been completed to support food production.
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Translator: Mentari Dwi Gayati, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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