The Garlic Saga: Beggars in Their Own Land

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/03/25/imo-view-the-garlic-saga.html

Hundreds of commuters disembarked from the commuter line at Depok Baru train station as I maneuvered my way out to avoid getting trampled or squashed. Lined with fatigue, these passengers battled their way again to board on the blue public minivans parked along the narrow streets. The already congested road grew worse, adding another nightmare to the weary passengers. I shoved myself in the overcrowded minivan, securing the leftover seat that squeezed me to the point I could not even move an inch.

“Yesterday, I bought a quarter kilogram of shallots for Rp 12,000. Now, I have to pay Rp 15,000 for the same quarter. It’s so outrageous! Even for our basic seasoning, the price has been skyrocketing. I am afraid I will no longer be able to afford them.” A middle age woman on my right with black plastic bag full of vegetables and other cooking herbs said with a deep sigh.

Another lady next to her exclaimed in unison, adding that she had to empty her purse to buy a kilogram of garlic for Rp 80,000.

“What an irony! While Indonesia is renowned for its agriculture, most of our basic foods are still imported that make them volatile in price. Last year, tahu and tempeh became scarce due to the lunatic price hike!” She blurt out angrily.

Another housewife said she’s going to avoid buying shallots and garlic until the price returns to normal. She would replace them with instant seasoning instead.

The bantering enthralled me. These women spoke for the many hardworking housewives struggling to balance their budget to cope up with the soaring prices of staple food in the land of fertile agriculture. It showed the growing discontent among people for the extraordinary rise in prices of what should be normally one of the affordable agriculture products. If the prices kept skyrocketing, it was only a matter of time before the mayhem affected the health and well-being of many families in this nation.

Related to this issue, it was only the day before my office held a meeting to address the situation as the soaring prices of volatile foods might add another inflationary pressure to the economy. The crisis rooted in the unequal equation between the demand and supply resulted from the government’s move to curb the import of various horticulture products while local famers have not been able yet to meet the market demand as in case of the soaring price of beef.

It is a growing concern, should the government failed to tackle this problem accordingly. Amid the lingering global economic uncertainty, it is essential and compulsory for the government to keep the inflation at bay.

Meanwhile, the public started to dissent the related ministries, which again resorted to the hunting game – looking for scapegoats to blame on spiraling prices. The President has lambasted over the poor performance of the related ministries in dealing with this price instability in volatile food. Instructions had been issued to wrest the sharp increase. Again, poor coordination at the ministerial levels had been laid bare at the expense of the sweats and tears of many housewives in this nation.

It is so dreadful to learn that local farmers only contributed 5 percent garlic to the market while the remaining need for garlic is still imported. With so many fertile lands stretching from east to west, north to south and having the largest manpower in South East Asia, it saddens to learn that our farmers become beggars in their own lands. It is the responsibility of the government should maintain price stability and regulate import while protecting local farmers so that they would enjoy their production benefit.

As for me, and perhaps many others, we dream to see the nation regain its glory in agriculture. We long to see the nation to reach swasembada pangan (food self-sufficiency and security in agriculture sector). We want to enjoy the diverse agriculture products with cheaper prices. We are sick to see another saga of price hiking in these products. And we don’t want to be  beggars in our own land!