SYNERGIA 2014, Logistics System For Competitiveness and Food Sovereignty

Act No. 18 Year 2012 on Food emphasizes the duty of the state to realize the availability, affordability, and fulfilment of adequate, safe, quality, and nutritionally balanced food consumption, both at national and regional as well as individual levels, and evenly sustainable across the country. Every citizen has the right for fair, equitable, and sustainable food fulfilment based on Food Sovereignty, Food Independence, and Food Security. The clause indicates that compliance with food is part of Indonesian citizens’ rights which is guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution.
In line with this, Presidential Regulation No. 26 Year 2012 on the National Logistics System (Sislognas) as an effort to boost the nation’s competitiveness on produced food-related goods or commodities and to ensure the right to food evenly has also endorsed.
There are three main things that need to be focused on food management, namely: (1) food availability based on optimal utilization of local resources; (2) food affordability from physical and economical aspects of the entire population; and (3) food and nutrition use or consumption for healthy, active, and productive living. In terms of physical affordability, condition of infrastructure/facility becomes an important key support aspect for the success of food management.
However, the condition of facilities and infrastructure in Indonesia is still characterized by low accessibility, quality, or scope of services. Inequality of infrastructure conditions between western and eastern Indonesian region also becomes a significant obstacle to the implementation of food management. The existing facilities and infrastructure have not been fully able to be the backbone to support government’s measures to achieve food sovereignty.
In response, PUSTRAL-UGM held a SYNERGIA 2014 discussion with the theme of “Logistics System for competitiveness and food sovereignty”. This activity aimed to: (1) obtain an overview on challenges and strategies of policy implementation in order to realize national food sovereignty; (2) to discuss constraints and challenges of infrastructure development and logistics transportation services to support the realization of competitive national logistics system that is capable of supporting the creation of national food sovereignty; and (3) finding a solution to overcome various obstacles encountered.
The discussion activity in SYNERGIA 2014 involved policy makers from related Ministries /Institutions, associations, industry, practitioners, and academics. There were 200 participants involved in the discussion. The speakers at this event are: Dr. Kuncoro Harto Widodo (Director of PUSTRAL-UGM), Prof. Dr. Robert de Souza (Executive Director for The Logistics Institute – Asia Pacific, NUS), Ir. Saut Parulian Hutagalung, M.Sc. (Deputy Minister of Marine and Fisheries), Dr. Beni Rachman (Head of Food Sovereignty), Zaldi Masita (President of ALI – Indonesian Logistics Association), Poltak Ambarita (PDN Director General, Ministry of Commerce) and Dr. M. Pramono Hadi (PUSTRAL-UGM) as the moderator. The event was opened by the Rector of Universitas Gadjah Mada, Prof. Pratikno, while the keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Edi Putra Irawady (Deputy for coordination of commercial and entrepreneurial, CMEA). (Sulis, Listi, & Muadz)