The eastern part of Indonesia will remain prone to food shortages unless the government improves distribution infrastructure, an official says.

"The infrastructure problem in eastern Indonesia will hamper the capacity for food distribution to areas stricken by a lack of access to staple foods," Iskandar Andi Nuhung, an expert at the Minister of Agriculture, said in a seminar Thursday.

Of the 35 million tons of rice targeted to be produced in the country this year, eastern Indonesia is estimated to generate only 5.5 million tons as farmers in the region have difficulties in marketing their produces.

Eastern Indonesia covers the provinces of Maluku, Papua, some parts of Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency shows of 37.17 million poor people in the country last year, some 5.71 million suffered food shortages, most of them living in eastern Indonesia. In 2006, more than a quarter of the country's population of poor people, or 10.04 million of 39.30 million, suffered food shortages.

The Food and Agriculture Organization, however, said cases of food shortages in Indonesia were lower than in 37 other developing or underdeveloped countries. (JP/rff)