Authors: Cornelius Tian Andi Sucahyo, Yatim Ardika Yanti, Jovania Cindo Putri J., Fatimah Azzahra
Reviewers : Farid Al-Firdaus, Nadia Faradiba, Muhammad Prayogane
Indonesia’s Vision 2045
Sustainable economic development is one of four pillars in Indonesia’s vision, Indonesia Emas 2045, focused on food security. Providing food is one of the citizens’ basic needs that the country must guarantee. Of all kinds of food, beef is an animal protein source in great demand in Indonesia.
Data from the Ministry of Agriculture showed that beef supply in Indonesia reached 473.878 tons while the demand reached 722.527 tons, making it a deficit of about 34% for 2022. Thus, Indonesia is currently highly dependent on imports to occupy the demand for beef. Solving this problem by conducting the meat self-sufficiency program will contribute to sustainable economic development as the second pillar in Indonesia’s Vision 2045.
Food Security and Meat Self-Sufficiency
The Food and Agriculture Organization suggests that food security is the product of food availability, food access, stability of supplies, and biological utilization. While meat self-sufficiency means that at least 90% of beef needs are met from domestic production, the remaining 10% is fulfilled from imports, including those from feeder cattle imports (Ditjennak, 2010).
To achieve food security and meat self-sufficiency, the government has included food security in the 2022-2024 National Development Agenda by prioritizing programs to increase availability, access, and quality of food consumption through increasing domestic productivity and substituting activities that depend on other countries. Therefore, synergism from the government, the involvement of academics in creating technology and innovation, and the role of the private sector and the community must be integrated to accelerate the achievement of national meat self-sufficiency.
Penta-helix Strategies
To achieve meat self-sufficiency in 2045, the Indonesian government must solve numerous things. The government could obtain this substantial program using a collaborative and cooperative approach with penta-helix strategies.
1. Government Program Refocusing
The failure of meat self-sufficiency in Indonesia allegedly occurred because too many government programs from the Ministry of Agriculture were launched. To meet the demand for domestic beef, the government has several programs that are expected to help meat self-sufficiency targets. Some programs launched are the development of organic fertilizer and biogas, breeding management, and empowerment to improve the quality of slaughterhouses (Fitri dan Handayani, 2020). Those programs must be reviewed based on the government programs’ priority scale, significantly affecting meat self-sufficiency.
To support the optimization of this program, the Ministry of Agriculture can refocus on a program with the highest priority, namely breeding which can produce good quality. It has become one of the most essential pillars due to livestock maintenance because it is a cultivation activity that produces livestock for multi-purpose reasons (Amam dan Harsita, 2019). In this case, the breeding program should be prioritized because it provides continuity of long-term benefits compared to other programs. By that, the number of imported beef is expected to decrease gradually and the provision of meat from domestic cattle will also be fulfilled sooner.
2. Business Involvement
Related to the government’s efforts in maintaining food availability by increasing domestic production, the government can collaborate with the commercial sector by communicating their programs to invest in beef cattle breeding and also can provide facilitation schemes in it, such as regular counseling on improving cattle quality, expanding the market, and assisting access to funding.
The commercial sector is an enabler, implying that the business becomes the upstream-to-downstream link in the supply chain. In this role, the business provides livestock installations, operations, and distribution to end consumers.
3. Community collaboration
Smallholder farmers are the most vulnerable in beef cattle production (Agus, A. and Widi, T.S., 2018). They commonly conventionally raise their farm, such as keeping their livestock as a livelihood asset for saving and investment. Farmers should be encouraged to change their conventional paradigm into a commercial. Meanwhile, the government should form a partnership with smallholder farmers and prepare a valuable offer as an incentive for them, such as providing free artificial insemination to farmers in empowering them to contribute to the nation’s beef supplies. Artificial insemination is a fertility treatment with many benefits, such as increasing livestock reproductive efficiency and disseminating high-quality breeds (Hidayat A, 2020). Since artificial insemination requires well-trained trainers and special equipment to perform operations (Rauthan et al., 2022), gaining a free treatment of it will be a satisfying treat for the cattle and farmer. Thus, this mutually beneficial collaboration needs to be carried out to foster community interest in being involved in the national meat supply chain.
4. Media Participation & Education
As a disseminating tool, the media must raise awareness about farming among kids, fresh graduates, and adults. Kids can start to be educated about cattle and farming in early education, such as gaining real experience by visiting a farming field. Media can also provide children with farming content to raise their interest. Besides, many fresh graduates avoid becoming farmers or building a livestock business and choose formal jobs or work in a corporation, so they need to understand that the cattle business is promising. Lastly, the media can disseminate government programs that support cattle farming so adults can realize the development opportunities and have another perspective regarding their careers.
5. Research and Development Plan
Conducting research and development is one of the ways to provide information that can be useful in many aspects, including policymaking. It can enlighten a policymaker and put workable policy options in their hands (James, L., Garrett, J. and Islam, Y., 2009). Research can be carried out to obtain new methods in cattle farming or strengthen the previous study. Thus, academics need to take a role in developing an excellent innovation and provide advice on developing cattle farming in Indonesia. A National Research and Innovation Agency researcher stated that specific strategies and policies are recommended for achieving meat self-sufficiency, among others, increasing population and high-quality breeds through breeding and genetic improvement.
Therefore, a specific budget must be allocated to strengthen research in this field. The allocation of research funds can be taken from budget optimization as the result of program refocusing so that the study can be more optimal.
6. Benchmarking
Benchmarking is required to obtain best practices for strengthening cattle farming in Indonesia. Government can do benchmarking in some countries that already have best practices in cattle farming, such as Australia, the USA, New Zealand, and Japan, so that farmers will be educated and the quality of the meat itself will be increased. Concerned with the benchmarking result, these are best practices that can be applied with some adjustments based on Indonesian conditions:
a. Most cattle from those countries are raised exclusively on pastures. It is aligned with the research from the Riddet Institute led by Dr. Lovedeep Kaur and Dr. Mike Boland, which stated that meat quality depends on how the animal is raised.
b. Those countries set their standards for meat quality assurance and animal welfare in agriculture, along with programs on animal care and providing farmers with educational resources.
c. Those countries select the cattle’s breed based on gene quality.
Conclusion
The local meat supply in Indonesia should meet the consumption needs of the whole community. Indonesia has great potential to be meat self-sufficient, but the government must take strategic measures to achieve it by strengthening the penta-helix collaboration. Several strategies can be implemented, including government program refocusing, supporting research, benchmarking, and cooperation with multiple elements such as the business, the community, media, and academia. However, these interrelated strategies must be implemented in an integrated and sustainable way. Thus, Indonesia can achieve meat self-sufficiency following Indonesia’s Vision 2045.
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