Colombo, Sri Lanka – The Chief of Staff to the President, General TNI (ret.) Dr. Moeldoko held a bilateral meeting with Assistant-Director and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Jong Jin Kim, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday (23/2). During the meetings, Moeldoko suggested three strategic ideas to strengthen food security in the Asia Pacific region. Specifically, initiating farmer regeneration through training centers, expanding smart farming, and also enhancing tropical farming research and innovation.
Moeldoko said the establishment of a farmer regeneration training laboratory center was part of the transformation of the agri-food. At present, farmer regeneration has become the main issue for all the countries around the world. For this reason, a program to accelerate farmer regeneration through a training laboratory is urgently needed. “It would be a place to exchange knowledge and best practices from various Asia Pacific countries and then be replicated through the FAO network,” said Moeldoko.
Moeldoko also ensured that Indonesia is ready to become the laboratory center for farmer regeneration, because of its excellence in natural and human resources. In addition, the Government of Indonesia and FAO have formerly collaborated to build a farmer regeneration program which includes tiered training from upstream to downstream involving the corporate sector, ministry/institutions, Bank of Indonesia, farmer association, and youth organization.
Moeldoko, who is also the Chairman of Indonesia Farmers Organizations (HKTI), views young generations’ interest in agriculture must be supported by technologies. For instance, smart farming as a new form of agriculture is much more related to the young generations nowadays. He also mentioned that South Korea would be a fit strategic partner. “South Korea is acclaimed for its technology in smart farming, and we are ready to collaborate to train Indonesia’ young farmers,” he added.
Apart from regenerating farmers and developing smart farming, building a massive research and innovation center is seen as the most beneficial investment to achieve food security in the Asia Pacific regions. Moeldoko expressed that research and development of local foods has not been in its best performance, especially regarding seeds and utilization of plasma nuftah, good agriculture, and increasing its value. Whereas, most of the countries in Asia Pacific regions are tropical countries rich in biological resources that can be utilized for the development of food diversification.
“In fact, food development could become the answer for the food security issues and as an effort to improve farmers’ welfare,” Moeldoko conveyed.
“Also, Indonesia is willing to initiate the development of a research center, with support from FAO and other related institutions, this will be an exchange of experience and knowledge that can be utilized,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Jong Jin Kim appreciated and will support Indonesia’s effort to regenerate farmers. He also agreed to the Government of Indonesia’ proposal and will share the experiences to find the best way to solve the current farmers and agriculture related issues. “FAO has also made a study of policy suggestions that can be used as a reference to increase the interest of young farmers,” he said.
