In Indonesia, a database regarding the situation of agricultural markets

While food prices are soaring the world over, some countries are starting to take action. Such is the case of Indonesia, a developing country whose population is particularly vulnerable to the current price spike. The first measure is to provide the nation with a database concerning the status of agricultural markets to better assess them and anticipate their eventual turnarounds, with a view to improve the nation’s food security and fight inflation.

The Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture really feels that a wide-ranging policy to fight soaring food prices will not be achieved as long as the authorities concerned do not benefit from comprehensible data on the situation of agricultural markets, particularly concerning the physical fundamentals that are now cruelly lacking regarding production levels, stocks, reserves or export volumes.

Having such data is the needed precondition for any regulatory measure. “Reliable and accurate data on agricultural market conditions are essential for any governmental action,” stated Ir. H. Suswono, the Indonesian Minister of Agriculture. His ministry therefore signed an agreement with a national statistics agency, which must provide the ministry with data on food crops, horticulture and livestock farming for the next four years.

This initiative is all the more noteworthy that the country is currently presiding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and that close relations have been forged with France, which now chairs the G20. For the time being, Indonesia supports the idea of agricultural market regulation, and the fact that its government decided to gain a tool to improve agricultural market transparency is indeed a positive sign for the future…