Jayapura – The government continues to strengthen food security in Papua through collaboration between regional governments, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), security forces, and local communities to ensure food availability reaches even remote areas.
The effort is considered important to maintain economic stability while supporting equitable development in eastern Indonesia.
Vice Governor of Papua, Aryoko Rumaropen, urged the Papua Provincial Food Agency to continue improving regional food security programs so that all communities can gain access to sufficient and quality food supplies.
“The main task of the Food Agency is to ensure food availability, accessibility, and utilization run properly in accordance with Papua’s local potential,” Aryoko said in Jayapura.
According to him, Papua possesses abundant natural resources that have the potential to become a major strength in supporting community food self-sufficiency. Therefore, the regional government continues encouraging the mapping of local food potential across regencies and municipalities to develop them into leading regional commodities.
In addition to strengthening local food production, the government is also ensuring smooth food distribution through support from Bulog. From Bulog warehouses in Jayapura, tens of thousands of tons of rice have been prepared to meet the needs of communities across six provinces in the Papua region.
Head of Bulog Papua Regional Office, Ahmad Mustari, stated that his institution remains committed to maintaining food availability and equitable distribution, including to remote areas.
“Geographical challenges in Papua do not reduce our commitment to ensuring people have access to proper and affordable food,” he said.
The government is also strengthening food distribution through several programs, including the Food Supply and Price Stabilization Program (SPHP), the Cheap Food Movement (GPM), and government food assistance distribution to maintain price stability within communities.
Support for food security is also being carried out through the empowerment of local farmers. Polda Papua Tengah recently organized a corn harvest event in Nabire Regency as part of community agricultural development efforts.
Inspector of Supervision at Central Papua Police, Gatot Suprasetya, emphasized that collaboration among all stakeholders is key to the success of the national food security program.
“This program is expected to increase agricultural productivity while strengthening community welfare,” he stated.
Through these various initiatives, the government remains optimistic that food security in Papua will become stronger and serve as an important foundation for improving public welfare and accelerating development in eastern Indonesia.
