MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, YOGYAKARTA – Deputy Chair of the Muhammadiyah Council for Community Empowerment (MPM) Ahmad Romadhoni Surya Putra highlighted two pressing future challenges that humanity will face: food security and energy sustainability.
Romadhoni, who is also the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), emphasized the need to broaden our perspective on agriculture.
“Agricultural issues are beyond agriculture itself. It is dealing with issues of food and energy,” said Romadhoni at the Suara Muhammadiyah office on Tuesday, September 3.
Romadhoni mentioned that the global population is predicted to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Indonesia, specifically, is projected to have a population of around 300 million by 2045-2050. To feed this growing population, food production will need to increase by 50%.
However, several challenges hinder the achievement of this goal. One significant challenge is the shrinking of arable land due to urbanization. While the government has responded by establishing food estates in various regions outside Java, Romadhoni expressed concerns about the potential for crop failures in these new agricultural areas.
“Experts say that it takes seven planting cycles before a newly cleared forest land can be expected to yield a good harvest. Until then, crop failures are inevitable, even if there is a harvest, it won’t be substantial,” explained Romadhoni.
Another challenge is the declining number of people working in the agricultural sector. Young people are increasingly less interested in pursuing careers in farming, fishing, or livestock rearing.
“The perception of agriculture and livestock farming is negative,” Romadhoni added, highlighting the poor working conditions and low incomes associated with these sectors. Thus. he argued that it is necessary to shift terms from farmers or breeders to food suppliers. This term will create a new positive paradigm of those professions.
Furthermore, limited access to food resources poses a significant challenge. Disruptions in the food supply chain can lead to food shortages and malnutrition, as shown by the high stunting rate in Indonesia (1 of 5 children is stunted). Paradoxically, the country also grapples with high obesity rates (1 of 4 is obese).
The issue of food waste also exacerbates the problem. According to BAPPENAS (the Ministry of National Development Planning, Republic of Indonesia), Indonesia loses between 23 and 48 million tons of food annually due to waste, resulting in economic losses of between 213 trillion and 551 trillion rupiahs. The amount is equivalent to 4-5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Indonesia.
