Jakarta – The Food Resilience Council, working directly under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono since late 2006, has come under fire for handling recent food shortages ineffectively.

Indonesian Farming Council head Ferry J. Julianto demanded the government revamp the council immediately to prevent further mismanagement of the nation's agricultural planning and implementation.

Speaking at a seminar on the food resilience program in Jakarta on Monday, Ferry said the umbrella organization had stumbled because it lacked a game plan for coordinating the policies of the government bodies involved.

Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri established the council in 2001 as a platform for formulating, implementing and evaluating food stock policy.

President Yudhoyono formalized the council's function in 2006 through a presidential regulation under which the president sits as council head and is assisted by 18 ministers. The council also has more than 200 representatives across the country.

Ferry pointed to a lack of teamwork. "It seems these ministries have their own agendas and work alone without coordinating with one other," Ferry said. "The government should restructure the council and set up a clear coordination scheme."

Fachri Andi Laluasa, a Golkar lawmaker with the House of Representative's Commission IV on food production, concurred, saying said the council was no more than a showcase body, producing few results.

"The coordination among the ministries is weak, causing the implementation of recommended plans to not work as expected," he said during the seminar.

According to Ferry, the failure of the council to properly implement planning had caused food stock shortages that triggered unrest in many areas across Indonesia in the past couple of years.

"Rice production has been decreasing by 1.2 million tons since last year and we have had to import up to 60 percent of the soybeans we consume," Ferry said.

He said the government's policy of importing staple foods had caused farmers to suffer, as they could not compete with lower-priced imports. "Local farmers have stopped planting soybeans because they are afraid of the competition and that the government will not protect them," Ferry said.

Agricultural Minister Anton Apriyantono defended the government's importation of staple foods, which he said did not necessarily indicate a food crisis. "We've imported staple foods like rice, maize, soybeans, meat and sugar to secure our stocks, not because we lack those foods," he told the seminar.

He said the objective was to see the country's food deficits remain low in comparison with other developing countries, citing data from the Food and Agricultural Organization. (dia)